


Opportunities in Unexpected Places

by ashethehedgehog



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Complete, Dragontaur!Yami, Fantasy, Human Sacrifice, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-11-20 17:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11340354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashethehedgehog/pseuds/ashethehedgehog
Summary: Every century, the surrounding villages must choose a human to sacrifice to the 'Great Beast' of the mountain. No one knows anything of it, but fear its wrath should they fail to provide.Yugi finds himself as this century's sacrifice, given no real choice in the matter. He thinks he's walking to his early grave, unaware of just wait awaits him at the mountain.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! The Dragontaur AU I've been working on between projects on and off for a couple of months now, which you may have seen me screeching about on Tumblr every now and then ahaha. Regardless, please enjoy the first chapter of this new small multichapter fic!

Yugi tried to hold back his tears. His cheeks were already messy with the salt trails, evidence left over from his previous session. He didn’t want to cry; he knew it wouldn’t do him any good, and if his grandfather was still here, he would tell Yugi the same thing.

He fiddled with the hem of his tunic, his fingers putting small smudges of dirt into the clean white material. He would probably regret doing it later, but for now it provided a small kind of relief, and kept his hands busy.

He wished he could say the same for his mind. It was running rampant, too overcome with grief and worry to make room for anything else. He so desperately wished that something would happen, that some loophole would be found, and he would be relieved of his position. Perhaps something had happened to the beast in the last hundred years, and he wasn’t needed anymore.

The door to his house suddenly opened, and Yugi immediately steeled himself. He looked down, listening to the footsteps as two men appeared in the doorframe.

“It’s time,” one of them said, moving forward into the room.

Yugi sighed. He had been dreading those two words his whole life. It was hard to remember a time when he hadn’t, wisps of his childhood spent in pure obliviousness passing by him like mirrors through the smoke. He had been walking through this dreadful fog for years, and now, it was lifted, revealing the path he must finally take.

“Did you dirty your ceremonial robe?” The man frowned, thick eyebrows lowering in obvious disapproval. “You are supposed to appear pure! Soiling your sacrificial outfit will only serve to anger the beast!”

“I-I know, I’m sorry.” Yugi spluttered, head bowed to avoid the other’s gaze.

“Well don’t ruin it anymore. If the beast doesn’t accept you, all of us will die.”

_Not that that will really matter to me, since I’ll already be dead by then,_ Yugi pursed his lips. He knew he was being taken advantage of, years spent listening to talk of the sacrificial rules helping him form a better opinion than the one the villages tried to preach him. But without another living relative, Yugi wasn’t in any position to deflect his burden. He was the only orphan in the town, after all. And fate had picked him as this century’s offering.

Stepping out onto the street was hard. There were a few people milling around, and every one of them stopped to look at Yugi. The moment Yugi saw the mixture of pity and relief in their eyes, he lowered his gaze, unwilling to see the emotions. He didn’t need to be reminded.

He was led to a convoy of three horses. A man was already sitting atop one, while the other two were soon taken by the men that had come to Yugi’s house. One of them held their hand out for Yugi, who took it, letting himself be pulled up in front of them.

As soon as he was seated, the horses were set into motion, and they were tearing down the cobblestone path, towards the town exit. Yugi didn’t look back, already knowing the kinds of reactions behind him.

There was nothing left for him there now.

They travelled in silence, the only sound coming from the horses as they panted and hit the ground with their hooves. The breeze began to play with Yugi’s bangs, stirring them up and ruining all of his hard efforts that morning to order them. Even his hair, which he had managed to tame nicely after a few hours, had begun to spike back up. He tried to smooth a hand through it, worry gnawing at him that the man behind him would see his desperate attempt to remain ‘appealing.’

If he noticed something, the man chose not to scold Yugi again over it. Maybe he no longer cared. It wasn’t like any of them would see Yugi ever again after this anyway.

As the minutes stretched by, and Yugi’s ass began to burn with the extended time riding horseback, a mountain began to loom ahead of them. Yugi pressed down the fear that started to bubble up in him. This was really happening. This was it. As they approached the base, Yugi found it increasingly hard to not begin crying again.

“This is it, Yugi,” the man said, helping Yugi climb down. “The rest you must do on your own. All the towns of the region are indebted to you for your sacrifice.”

_Right. Sacrifice,_ Yugi scoffed to himself silently. He smoothed over the creases of his robe, turning to the mountain ahead.

With their job done, the men lingered behind on the horses. They wouldn’t go any closer, too afraid of the beast lurking inside. Yugi didn’t blame them. He didn’t want to get any closer either. Except he didn’t have the luxury of being able to turn back around and leave.

He was walking to his death.

_Well, no time like the present to get eaten,_ Yugi sighed, beginning the trek up the mountain. There was a convenient path through the rocky landscape, just wide enough that he could work his way up the hillside and not worry about dirtying his clothes further.

He climbed the outside easily, reaching a cave mouth three quarters of the way up the slope. By this point the men on the horses below seemed smaller, their faces barely recognisable. Yugi just shrugged, slipping inside the cave with one last look at the sky.

It would be the last time he ever saw it.

The first thing Yugi noticed was that the cave was damp and dry at the same time. The air was crisp, but the walls looked wet, and he could see moss growing amongst the dirt and rocks on the ground. It was soft and spongey under his sandals, but after a while it left muddy stains, so he was forced to weave around it to avoid damaging his shoes.

The deeper he walked, the less light he found. It got to the point where he was blindly stumbling forward, moving to the side of the tunnel for the support the sturdy wall offered. He felt his hands becoming bruised from the hard rock, and he tripped more than once, faltering forward. His knees became grazed, blood drops welling against the skin, making Yugi wince every time he had to move them.

He was beginning to think that this beast didn’t care about its sacrifice being clean if this is the kind of welcome they received. Yugi had been under the impression that the beast would be waiting at the cave mouth, eager for its newest victim. It had to be boring, waiting a century between meals. Maybe the beast had a good digestion rate.

Suddenly Yugi heard a low growl, and he froze immediately. Something moved directly in front of him, the shadows shifting to give way to something’s mass, and he squeaked.

Yugi stumbled backwards, hardly registering the harsh jar of the impact. His eyes widened in fear, his stomach dropping at the sight before him.

This had to be it. This was the beast. All those years and he still wasn’t prepared.

He was staring up at a bulky mass of shadows, the dull glint of scales bouncing off what meagre light there was. He could make out what looked to be legs, connected to a huge surface. Two shining rubies stared back at him eerily, too bright for the surrounding darkness.

“Aren’t you early?” A deep voice rumbled, tongue clicking over long, sharp teeth as it examined Yugi.

“U-Uh… N-No… It’s… It’s been a hundred years…” Yugi swallowed up his courage, staring at the ground in the hopes to avoid the beast’s gaze.

He ended up locking onto the claws near his feet, long and sharp on the feet of this creature. They looked like they could slice through his skin with ease. He wondered how many times they had cut human skin. He immediately regretted it.

The beast made a sound, its feet shifting against the rock, making small scraping sounds. “I see.”

Yugi swallowed nervously for what felt like the hundredth time. He kept his head bowed, opting to stare at his feet instead of the beast’s.

“It is unusual for the region to send a male,” the beast made a humming sound. “Were they out of maidens, perhaps?”

“I d-don’t know, s-sorry.” Yugi squeaked.

“I have not been sent a man in many centuries.”

Yugi suddenly felt something stir inside him. Was that a jab sent at him? It seemed a bit of a low blow; Yugi only had moments left to live, and he had to spend them listening to this beast insult him!

_Just eat me already if that’s what I have to deal with,_ Yugi pursed his lips, but he didn’t frown. There was no reason to cause a reaction from the beast, that could potentially stir up its rage and then Yugi could possibly end up being mauled horribly. Or tortured. That too.

He worked up the courage to speak, trying to sound as confident and polite as possible. “I’m sorry if my appearance does not appeal to you, great beast.”

The beast snorted, a loud, ugly sound. “’Great beast?’ Is that what this generation calls me? What happened to the awful insults? At least those were more creative. ‘Great beast’ is a little too boring for my liking. Even ‘dragon scum’ was better than that.”

And then it hit Yugi, those words clicking something in his mind, a far off legend or tale he was told once. “You’re a… dragon?” He whispered, voice looking any spec of courage he had worked up.

“Obviously.” A thick, long tail swerved closer from behind the mass of legs, the tip holding a sharp looking blade.

“I couldn’t see anything. It’s really dark in here.” Yugi said. In his defence, it really was too dark to see anything here, the small sliver of light he was granted from the hole above not enough to illuminate the whole cave.

The dragon made a sound, its claws scraping against the rock. The tail disappeared, and then its mass begun to shift. From the mess of shadows Yugi could make out, he thought he saw a strange shape move above the claws in where he assumed the head to be, although from the tales he had heard about dragons, they were supposed to be giant lizards, with reptilian features. But from the shadows, it looked almost human at times. _Maybe it’s a trick of the light, warping my mind into thinking things,_ Yugi shook his head, refocusing on the dragon’s mass.

It had turned around, from what Yugi thought he could make out. Suddenly its tail was level with Yugi’s chest, sharp tip pointed at him. He gulped.

“Hold onto this and follow me. I’ll take you somewhere you can actually see.” The deep voice said, sounding further away then before.

In all honesty, Yugi would prefer to meet his end where he _couldn’t_ make out every single detail about his foe. But, he supposed, now that he knew the ‘great beast’ he had been told about all his life was a dragon… He had to admit, he was a little curious. _If I must die, then to be able to say I met my end at a legendary dragon… That sounds just a bit better._ He ignored the tiny voice in the back of his mind that told him he was still going to die horribly and be eaten.

He didn’t really have a choice then. He reached out to cradle the blade in his hands, marvelling at the smoothness of the object. It felt like bone, sturdy in his grip.

As soon as he had the blade in his hand, the dragon began to move, tugging Yugi forward and forcing him to walk to remain upright.

Yugi walked blindly, tail blade held in hand, behind the dragon for a while, enough that the rocks sticking up from the ground began to poke into his shoes, giving him painful bruises on his feet. It was hard to keep his feet down without wincing. The idea that the dragon was doing this to make it hard for Yugi to run away passed through his mind, and he scowled at the thought. He would really just prefer for the dragon to finish him off already.

But the dragon just continued to bound forward, feet making loud sounds against the rock. Then it stopped for a moment before resuming, body moving around something ahead. By the time the huge mass moved to allow Yugi to see, he realised that he could _see_.

“This is the main cave. There is a series of tunnels that run throughout the mountain, and most have shafts of sunlight in them. So long as you remain in the high caves where the sunlight can reach. Do not wander further down. That is my only rule. There are other things in the caverns deep down that would love to eat a small human up.”

_And you won’t?_ Yugi kept his mouth wisely shut, opting to examine the room intently instead.

It was an expansive cave, much bigger than Yugi thought anything could be inside a mountain. The ceiling was high and littered with holes, each one pouring in sunlight, giving the room a pleasant warmth. Yugi could see parts of the walls where the formed inwards, the surface uneven in its shape. It was a stark difference to the structures the humans built, the town’s houses having a strict edifice to them.

What parts of the floor Yugi could see were barren, although several rocks protruded upwards off to the sides of the light, and looking closer Yugi could see from the cone-like shapes that they were in stalagmite formations. Many of them had twins above them, dangling from the rooftop, some meeting their partners in a complete set.

Yugi’s eyes sort out the dragon, noticing that it was sticking in the shadows, along the side of the cave. He could only just make out the sides of its body, scales shimmering along them.

“What happens now?” Yugi found himself asking, eager to know.

The dragon paused, claws turning towards him. The tail twitched, sliding backwards out of the light. Now that there was more space in the cave, and more light, Yugi could clearly see there was more to the dragon’s body. Something he assumed to be wings- dragons had those, he had heard in the tales- were looming over the body, almost melding into it in the darkness. There was something else there, above the forelegs. Was it the head? But it seemed too out of proportion to be a head on a neck. Unless dragons had something else there. Yugi couldn’t say he had the most reliable sources.

“You live here now.” The dragon said, moving along the edges of the cave. Yugi saw the chips of red glint out of the darkness.

“Live here… What… What do you mean…?” Yugi frowned, hands gravitating to the hem of his clothes.

“This is your home now.”

“But why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’ve been sacrificed to me. You’re mine.” The dragon snorted, eyes narrowing at him. Something moved just below those eyes, and from a distance it looked like arms folding over. _But that can’t be right…_ Yugi frowned, edging closer. Something seemed… _off_ , about this dragon. Yugi couldn’t describe it, but it was a feeling that wasn’t agreeing with him.

“What’s your name?” Yugi asked, trying to sound casual. The dragon seemed to hesitate. pulling back further at Yugi’s question.

“…Yami.”

“I’m Yugi.”

“Okay.”

Yugi pursed his lips. That wasn’t the reaction he had been expecting. He smoothed his thumbs over the hem, looking away as he only succeeded in smudging the dirt lingering there. He glanced up at the dragon to see if it was watching, remembering the words of the townsfolk about appearing ‘pure.’

The moment he raised his eyes, the dragon shuffled further back from the light, eyes narrowing at him.

“Why are you hiding?” Yugi found himself asking.

“I’m not.” The dragon snapped.

“Then come out of the shadows.” Yugi countered. “You can’t hide forever. Especially if I’m to remain here.”

The dragon paused, eyes reducing to slits. “I could.”

“Then what would be the point of me staying here? What am I to do?”

“You stay here.” The dragon said. It seemed rather adamant about this point, even going as far as to back its words up with a clawed gesture, tapping the ground.

“Then reveal yourself to me. If I must play hostage, then I deserve to see my captor’s face.”

“ _You_ were given to _me_. There is no hostage here.” The dragon rumbled, visible claws gripping the rock with grated rage.

It should have sent panic bells off in Yugi’s mind, but instead it only fuelled his fire more. “I don’t understand! What is the point then! You expect me to just stay here, completely alone in the dark, slowly wasting away? You are cruel.”

“Fine, you want to see what you have to live with?” Yami snarled, slamming a foot forward, his body shaking from the effort.

Yugi felt his confidence begin to waver, but he swallowed his fear back, too determined to back down now. “Yes, I do.”

“Fine, but I warned you.” Yami growled. His entire form began to move, the giant forearms coming forward to slam against the ground.

It took a moment for Yami’s body to come completely into the light, but when it did, Yugi could only stare in shock.

“You’re… You look…” Yugi stood, mouth agape, staring up at this… this… Was there even a word for what he was seeing?

Coming out from the dragon’s torso, right where Yugi thought the neck should be, was a human torso, body tan as if it spent its life in the sunlight. It was the origin of those red eyes, the two gemstones shining out from the very human looking head of this beast.

Because it was still a beast, and Yugi was _terrified_.

“Oh god… please don’t eat me… I-I promise I’ll do whatever you ask…” Yugi collapsed to the ground, knees caving inwards to bump against each other as he sank down.

Yami stared at Yugi his looming form overbearing now that Yugi was on the ground. His eyes blinked slowly, brows knitted together in a very human way. _This makes no sense, just what is this thing?!?!_

Yugi whimpered when the beast took a giant step forward, shrinking in closer to himself. Suddenly the human part was bending down, towards Yugi.

Yuig shot backwards, intent on putting as much distance between them as possible. He had scrambled back a meagre amount before one of those massive forearms reached out, claws encircling one of Yugi’s legs.

“Let go of me! Please!” Yugi screamed, batting his hands against the rock, hard stones digging into his fingers. He winced as they pierced the skin, but refused to stop trying to find a grip.

His efforts were in vain, as Yami easily pulled him closer, until Yugi was directly under his barrel chest.

“P-Please.” Yugi closed his eyes, body shaking in the resurgence of fear shooting through his veins.

“I’m not going to eat you,” Yami snorted. “Fear does awful things to the muscles. You wouldn’t taste very nice.”

Yugi whimpered again, closing his eyes _. This is it. This is how I die._

“Stop whining,” Yami sighed, “I just want to see your eyes. Please open them.”

The please caught Yugi, and his eyes fluttered open, staring at the claws holding him down. “Can you… remove your foot first, please? Your claws are hurting me.”

The grip immediately loosened, and Yami pulled his foot away. Yugi smiled briefly in thanks, although his head was still pointing down, so he wasn’t sure how much Yami could see.

He took a deep breath, willing himself to raise his head. He stopped at the junction between the human and dragon halves. There was a scrap of cloth there, arranged in a scarf like way. Yugi wondered why Yami would bother, when everything else about him was naked.

“My eyes are up here, Yugi.”

_I know, that’s what I’m trying to avoid,_ Yugi took a deep breath, flicking his gaze up to Yami’s human head. He froze, Yami’s eyes on him, the red seemingly burning through him.

Yami’s gaze was intense, the time he took between blinks long and painful looking. It made Yugi hyper aware of his own, blinking frequently.

“Good. It has been a while.” Yami muttered, almost to himself. He nodded, some decision Yugi wans’t privy too made. “So long as you are here, no harm shall come to you. You have my word, on my honour as a dragon.”

Yugi opened his mouth, intent to ask a question, but Yami made a noise, shaking his head.

“You have questions, I am sure. But they will have to wait until the morning. There is something I must do tonight, and I am running out of time. I will lead you to a place you can sleep.” He held out a hand to Yugi, human body crouched down for Yugi to be able to reach.

Yugi bit his lip, slipping his hand into Yami’s as he looked downwards. Yami didn’t comment, instead tugging him along gently. Yugi followed by Yami’s side, walking in tune to the front arms. He was a little squished in with Yami’s wings pushing out from his body, even when they were folded up. Yami’s steps were longer as well, so Yugi was forced to pick up his pace to keep his hand in Yami’s.

Soon Yami entered a tunnel, and they were plunged back into darkness, the only thing the sound of Yami’s feet as they crunched against the floor dully.

Somewhere along the way Yami turned down another tunnel, and Yugi meekly followed along. He wondered how Yami was able to see in the darkness so well. Perhaps dragons had night vision. It would make it hard for Yugi to get around, if he had to adjust to life in this darkness.

Life in the darkness… Is that what was expected of him now? For most of his life, he had been told his purpose was to sacrifice himself for the greater good, to act as a martyr for his people. And yet he was still alive. Was this what sacrificing himself meant? No, Yugi had an inkling that the humans from the towns did not know about this. How could they? If they did, they would have told Yugi exactly what he was walking into, but instead he was led to believe he was going to be eaten by some great beast.

It was all too confusing to think about.

“We’re here.” Yami said, and Yugi welcomed the distraction from his rampant mind. He peered over Yami’s legs, reeling back in shock at what he saw, partially from actually been able to see, with some kind of glowing moss growing along the walls.

The cave was decorated as if a human had done the job. There was a cupboard on one side, and a sturdy looking bed. It was a surprise, to see such modern human things in a cave owned by a dragon. Yugi was just about to question it before Yami spoke first.

“You may treat this place as your new chambers. I hope they will suffice, for you.”

“They’re… It’s…” Yugi swallowed, forcing himself to flash a smile up at Yami. “They’re nice. Thank you.”

Yami just nodded, eyes darting to the side. “Until tomorrow, then. Sleep well.” He turned back around, trotting out of the cave.

Yugi waited until Yami had completely left the room, the echo of his heavy footsteps gone, before he lied down on the bed. He hadn’t realised it before, but he was exhausted, the emotional strain of the events today completely draining him of energy. He closed his eyes, allowing himself the chance to sleep.

If he even could.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to the amazing Lexidafree on Tumblr, who drew [this amazing artwork of dragontaur!Yami!](http://lexidafree.tumblr.com/post/162505932974/started-my-holidays-with-some-relaxing-painting) Also next chapter will be longer, sorry for the kind of short one this week!

Yugi awoke the next day feeling sluggish and tired. The bed had been comfortable, but his mind hadn’t allowed him to sleep, sending him into a turning mess throughout the night.

He sat at the edge of the bed, eyes sore and body slumping downwards. He felt drained of his strength, although it could be chalked up to how he hadn’t eaten in the last twenty four hours at all. His stomach grumbled in protest, demanding action be taken. Yugi sighed. He had not the slightest idea on what he was supposed to do now. Was he some kind of glorified servant to this dragon… dragontaur? Is that what Yami was? He was half dragon, and half human… That would make him a centaur, wouldn’t it? But weren’t they just legends of horse people? What did that make a dragontaur?

“Argh, I don’t know!” Yugi shook his head, hands thrown up in exasperation. His eyes passed over the walls, and he jumped, having forgotten about the glowing moss. It was still going strong, the glow enough to illuminate the entire floor. Yugi felt that it would be safe to walk across, without fear of tripping over anything, although there was still a gloom in the air from the atmosphere.

_I might as well go see if I can find anything to eat. And see what Yami expects of me,_ Yugi sighed, pushing off the bed. _I wonder if I can even find my way back out…?_ He examined the walls, moving over to poke at the moss. It was wet to the touch, the glow bright shades of green. It spread across the wall horizontally in haphazard ways. Yugi followed the pattern of it, noticing that it continued on into the tunnel leading out as well.

_Strange, I didn’t notice this before,_ he walked along it, keeping a hand close to the wall for support. It lead him out further into the tunnel until it began to curve, the space opening up. Light began to pour in from ahead, and Yugi walked more confidently coming into an open cave.

He thought it would be the cave he had seen Yami’s whole form in, but it wasn’t. Instead it was a much smaller cave, with one small area of light shining from a hole above.

Under the light was Yami, stirring what looked to be a pot over a small fire, smoke rising up to escape through the hole. It looked like something that belonged in a human house, and once again Yugi felt bizarre looking at such normal things in a foreign setting. It was _almost_ human, but it still felt _wrong_.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Yami said softly, looking up from the pot. He was crouched down, belly on the ground and legs resting beside it, with his wings folded smoothly behind his back. He looked the very meaning of relaxed, eyes blinking in Yugi’s direction lazily.

“Yeah… Hi…” Yugi said lamely, a hand gravitating to its twin’s arm.

Yami grunted, his body shifting as his dragon legs lifted his body up. His human half was busy with the pot, scooping something out of it onto a very human looking plate. He extended his arm out, offering the plate to Yugi with a blank look. 

“You… cooked me breakfast…?” Yugi shyly took the plate, staring down at the cooked eggs wobbling on the surface.

“You haven’t eaten since yesterday morning, right? I know they don’t feed the sacrifices during the journey, so you must be hungry. Eat.” Yami shrugged, stomping back over to sit once again by the fire.

Yugi just gaped in surprise, mouth open like a fish, his mind completely blanking on words. He chose instead to focus on the plate of food in his hands, stomach growling as a constant reminder.

Sitting down on the ground to eat, he was surprised that there was also a fork on the plate, and he picked it up to attack the eggs, his hunger driving him to forget about manners, and the looming form of the dragon-human beside him.

“I haven’t cooked eggs in over fifty years, you’ll have to excuse me if they taste horrible.”

“No they’re great, I just… Wait did you say over fifty years? As in, not a hundred?” Yugi sighed.

Yami clicked his tongue, smirking. “You’re a sharp one. I like it. Yes, as in I haven’t had the pleasure of a human’s company for quite some years. Until last night, that was.”

“Last night? You mean me?”

Yami paused, eyebrows wide and thoughtful. “Yes, and no. I had to step out last night to get ingredients to cook with. Where did you think your breakfast came from?”

“I _was_ wondering where it came from, but I wasn’t game enough to ask.”

“Why not? You’re curious, ask a question. I’m assuming you have many to ask of me, and I’m here to answer them.”

“Well… I’m just a little confused right now. I don’t really know where I should start…”

“I can’t fault you there. Why don’t you tell me what you thought was going to happen?”

“Well. I’m a sacrifice. I’m supposed to be eaten.”

“Ah, you humans and always thinking you’ll be eaten,” Yami snorted, shaking his head. “I must have gotten only one sacrifice in the last millennia that didn’t think they were going to be eaten.”

“What did they think then?”

“They thought I was to have my way with them.”

“What… does that mean?”

Yami gave him a small smile, a small line of teeth showing. “They thought I was going to have sex with them.”

“ _Oh_.” Yugi flushed, eyes gravitating back down to his plate.

“I can understand while you’d think you’d be eaten, but I want to make it clear that I don’t eat humans,” Yami said, folding his arms over his torso. “Even if I was a full dragon, I would not eat humans. They’re just legends that say we do.”

“So you’re a… half dragon, then?”

“My species are called dragontaurs, but yes, you could say I am a half breed.”

“And you’re not going to eat me?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then why am I here? What was the point of bringing a sacrifice here if you don’t want them?”

“Oh no, you’re going to stay, little Yugi.” Yami flashed him a toothy smile.

“But why?” Yugi bristled, placing the plate on the ground. He didn’t want to risk breaking it, with the bolt of anger passing through his body. Yami looked _far_ too smug for his own good.

“Because you’re my sacrifice,” Yami stated, “that doesn’t change.”

“Why must I stay here then? What do you expect of me? I have nothing to offer.” Yugi shot a glare, angry when Yami continued to give him a grin.

“You just have to live here. It is best to get used to it. This is your home now.”

“Then what do I do, stand around and look pretty?” Yugi said sulkily.

“Essentially, yes.” Yami nodded, his face far too serious. Yugi gave a huff, getting to his feet to stomp out of the room.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my room.” Yugi threw over his shoulder, hurriedly trying to get away from the dragontaur. He was grateful when he didn’t hear Yami making a move to follow.

He used the moss to guide him back, the cave suddenly feeling easier to navigate. He wondered why he hadn’t seen it before, perhaps too worked up and panicked to notice. Now, however, the moss seemed to form obvious paths, stretching out and clinging to the walls.

In fact, Yugi thought it was almost too easy to navigate. Maybe he could try a different path this time, instead of going back to that room to do nothing all day.

_Well, if I’m supposed to just lay around and do nothing, then Yami won’t mind me exploring a bit,_ Yugi thought. And if he happened to find an exit off the mountain, then surely there would be no harm in slipping off?

Of course if Yami got angry over it, then there would be trouble. Especially if what he had been told all his life was true, and that refusing a sacrifice one century would result in the destruction of the whole kingdom. Yugi had to wonder if that was true, though, considering the villages and towns closest to Yami’s mountain of residence were the only ones who had to give up sacrifices, while the cities in the north only grew larger. It always seemed unfair to Yugi, but then again, he had never seen the cities in the north, so he didn’t feel right judging them so one-sidedly.

Perhaps he would go visit them to find out himself. If he ever got out of here.

He put a hand against the moss, trailing along the wall. At a point not far down, the wall curved, and he was changing direction. He could see moss on the far wall however, indicating another tunnel. He decided to follow this one instead, switching walls.

He walked for a while, letting the wall lead him. He reached another fork in the path, and chose the left side, since he was already along that side of the wall. The moss grew in smaller clusters along here, beginning to bottleneck into a small, but thick line. Yugi could still see with it though, so he continued on.

Soon enough he began to notice that the clumps of moss were no longer forming a continuous presence. They had started to break off; small, sporadic piles of the stuff every few metres instead of constantly. Yugi was beginning to feel the flicker of worry in his mind, but he brushed it aside. He couldn’t afford to keep worrying over everything, and he feared that’s what would happen if he was to stay here.

Yami’s presence alone scared him, although that last meeting had him feeling confused and angry as well. Just what did Yami want with him? How could he expect Yugi to live like this, alone in a cave, without a normal source of light, for the rest of his life? Didn’t he understand Yugi wasn’t part dragon? It left Yugi with a massive pile of questions, but perhaps the most disturbing on the list involved what happened to the previous sacrifices. He had yet to run into any… remnants of them, so that led him to believe something else had happened to them.

Or Yami was good at hiding bones.

Yugi supressed a shiver, the air in the tunnel suddenly feeling very cold. And then he paused. The air _did_ suddenly feel colder, but it wasn’t from his thoughts. There was a stagnant feel to it here, and the humidity he had felt before in the other tunnels and rooms was not present here. He brought his hands to his bare arms, becoming all too aware of just how thin his clothing was, and how little it covered. It certainly left nothing to the imagination, much to Yugi’s chagrin. It didn’t help that the outfit left his back bare, making it easy for the cold breeze to slide over it.

Wait… a breeze?

Yugi peered down the tunnelway, trying to see further ahead. The moss stopped completely here, but Yugi wasn’t without light. Instead, there seemed to be crystals shining around him, illuminating the cave, some by his feet, and others along the roof of the tunnel. Yugi reached down to touch one, the surface cold under the pads of his fingers. They seemed to work better than the moss, the space they brightened up larger. Yugi could clearly see the ground, and all the potential rocks he could trip over.

_Why doesn’t Yami use these? They’re much better. Maybe I can loosen one to carry around with me, like a torch._ Yugi grabbed the edges of the crystal closest to him, tugging on it. When it refused to budge, he put more effort in, yanking on it harshly until he started to feel it give way, like a stubborn baby tooth still clinging on. A few more tugs and it was freed, dirt and small stones spraying up from the bottom. Yugi turned it in his hand, admiring the shine and colour on it. There was an almost alluring feeling to the surface, and the more he stared at it, the brighter it felt, the cool touch to his palm inviting.

He felt the stress in his limbs start to fade, and his body relaxed. Maybe a little too relaxed, as his eyelids started to droop. He made no move to stop it, his body feeling too sluggish to respond to any commands, not that he could form any of those either. It would just be so easy to close his eyes and sleep now, but the crystal was too enthralling, demanding his attention.

Then everything was gone, and Yugi could think again. He blinked, glancing around. The tunnel had been plunged back into darkness ahead of him, although there was a faint glow coming from what seemed to be a corner, or behind a rock. Probably another crystal.

But then what had happened to his?

“This is not the way back to your room.” Yami’s voice growled from behind him. Yugi turned around, wincing at the fierce look in Yami’s eyes.

“But I think you already knew that.” Yami scoffed. In his hands was the crystal Yugi had been holding. Before Yugi could make a move for it, Yami dropped it to the ground and promptly smashed it under his claws.

“Hey! Why did you do that?” Yugi moved to bend down to the shards, but Yami stopped him, a huge dragon paw coming up to grab Yugi around the waist.

Yami lifted Yugi up, levelling him with his human half. Once he was close enough, Yami reached out with his human hands, yanking Yugi out of his claws and locking him against his chest.

“Hey! Let me go!” Yugi shrugged, squirming in Yami’s grip.

“Shut up and stop moving so much. You’re going to attract unwanted attention.” Yami snarled, his tone low. Yugi begrudgingly stilled himself, eyes narrowed angrily at the ground. He watched Yami’s feet stomp on the rocks, bouncing them up and down with the rhythm.

What kind of attention was there to even attract? Yugi hadn’t seen anything, and besides, he had felt a breeze down there. That meant air was coming through from somewhere, and chances were Yugi could find an opening to escape through. Which lead him to believe that Yami knew of this as well, and was trying to stop Yugi from discovering a way out.

Suddenly Yugi found himself being dropped, and he fell down onto a soft surface. Looking down, he could see it was the mattress of his bed; they were in his cave room.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous those crystals are?” Yami said, arms crossed as he towed above Yugi.

“How could I, when you don’t tell me anything.” Yugi shot back, shuffling to the back of the bed, sitting up against the wall, as far away from Yami as he could get.

“You humans are so out of tune with magic that you couldn’t even tell you were being hypnotised.”

“By a chunk of rock?” Yugi raised an eyebrow sceptically.

“It’s that exact reaction that tells me you don’t fully understand what is at work here. You are in another realm in this mountain. Things do not work the same as they would in your towns and cities.”

“It’s just a mountain. Stop trying to make it sound like some kind of fairy tale.”

Yami snickered, his mouth stretching into a toothy grin. “If it makes you sleep easier at night, then by all means, go on believing that, little Yugi.”

“Don’t call me little.” Yugi glared at him, but Yami only continued to smile.

“You’re smaller than you think, Yugi,” Yami said, before his smile dropped, and his face turned serious. “Do me a favour, and stop making this hard on yourself. We could have a good thing here, and yet you constantly challenge me every chance you get.”

“Stop trying to rule my life then, _Yami_.” Yugi said through gritted teeth. It seemed no matter where he went, there was someone trying to tell him what to do. When did he get to choose what to do with his life? He was sick of throwing everything away, all for the sake of someone else.

“I’m done arguing with you, you’re impossible,” Yami groaned. “First guy in centuries and he’s a brat. Of course. I’m going, and you’re confined to this room until I can deal with you again.” With that said, Yami turned away, heading for the exit. Yugi was having none of it today though.

“Excuse me?” Yugi shot off the bed, stomping over to where Yami was turning to regard him.

“Stay here, you’re not allowed to leave right now. I’m still upset with you.” Yami pointed to the ground, as if teaching a pet with actions.

“You can’t lock me up here, there’s no door!” Yugi protested. Yami glared at the entryway, his eyes then trailing over the room. He stopped on one point, and Yugi followed his gaze. Yami was staring at the cupboard, and making his way over to it.

“What are you-” Yugi was interrupted as Yami dug his claws into the sides of the cabinet, hauling it into the air.

“H-Hey! Calm down!” Yugi back pedalled, stepping out of Yami’s way as he heaved the chunk of wood over to the cave entrance. Then he turned around, dropping it in front of the tunnel- barring the exit.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Yugi ran over, throwing his hands against the cupboard.

“Keeping you in here while I work out what to do with you.” Yami muttered, human head sticking up from behind the cabinet. “Play nice, little Yugi.”

“Stop calling me little!” Yugi groaned, slamming an angry hand against the wood, but Yami had already begun to walk away, his heavy footsteps echoing down the tunnel.

“Damn it.” Yugi swore, sliding down the cupboard onto the floor, the surface cold against his bare legs. “Now I really _am_ trapped in here.”


	3. Chapter 3

Yugi paced around the room for what felt like hours. He tried to wriggle past the cabinet a few times, but ultimately, even with his short stature, he couldn’t fit through the small gap between the top and roof of the tunnel.

He begrudgingly lay down on the bed after that, falling in and out of consciousness as sleep lured him in only to elude him as his mind churned with thoughts, and his stomach protested at the lack of food as what Yugi assumed to be hours swept by.

He snapped fully awake when he heard the cupboard move, jolting upwards to the edge of the bed.

Yami was pushing the cabinet out of the way, the supports grinding against the hard rock. Once it was sufficiently away from the mouth of the cave, Yami strode in, stomping over to the middle of the room and stopping there. He made no effort to move closer to Yugi, who was gripping the bedsheets fiercely in apprehension.

“Hey…” Yami said rather awkwardly. Yugi loosened his grip a little at the way Yami fidgeted nervously.

“Hey.”

“Look, I’m… sorry, for treating you so harshly yesterday,” Yami said quietly. “It’s just… You had me worried, going and touching a crystal like that.”

“But why?”

“You… don’t understand the kind of things that lurk in this mountain. It is not safe to go wandering all alone, as a human.”

“Why do you keep me here then, if it’s so dangerous? Why do you need me here, if you’re… not going to do anything with me?”

Yami tossed his head around, bangs curling around his ears. “I’m not sure I should explain it…”

“Anything is better than been left in the dark like this, can’t you see that? I have no purpose here.”

“Did you have a purpose back at your home town?”

“I…” Yugi paused, faltering. He hadn’t expected that kind of question from the other. He wasn’t sure how to answer. _Did_ he have a purpose? What had he done, aside from wait till the day he would be ‘sacrificed’?” He looked to his shoes, nudging his toes down into the soft reed material. He didn’t have an answer.

Yami seemed to notice this, and perhaps he took pity on Yugi. “I promise you will be well looked after here, and I won’t do anything involving you without your permission. But you must understand there are rules to this place, laws to obey to keep your head on.”

Yugi took a deep breath, his eyes sliding shut as he hung his head. “Okay. So what do I need to understand about this place?”

“Many things, oh where to start.” Yami huffed, his legs shuffling down as his dragon body laid against the ground. “The first thing to understand is that this mountain serves as a gateway of sorts, to other realms. It acts as a crossroad between other places, and as such, tends to host an assortment of… things, as paths are chosen.”

“You’re been very vague.” Yugi pointed out.

“I’m trying to keep this simple for you.” Yami said. Yugi sent him a glower. “Not in a ‘you are stupid’ way, but in a ‘trying to understand how the world’s magic works when you humans shun it’ kind of way.”

“You keep mentioning this magic, but I’m not sure I’m following. You mean the kind they use up in the cities?”

“Not really. Although I admittedly haven’t visited the northern cities in a very long time,” Yami titled his head, hands outstretched in front of him. “Magic here is… lose, and clings in the air. It has, over time, changed the way the mountain has formed. An example would be in the crystals you saw, and the intensity of the glowing moss on the walls I use to navigate the safe areas.”

“What is so wrong with the crystals though? They just look pretty, nothing else.”

“They’re not really harmful on their own, but they tend to lull humans into a hypnotic state, and that creates an opening for other creatures to swoop in and prey on you. The frequency they emit is extra noticeable to these beasts.”

Yugi swallowed, nails creating indents in the sheets. “What… other creatures?”

“There are other beings that reside in this mountain. Deeper down, where the magic is thickest, and they are significantly less friendly than me. They won’t hesitate to eat you.”

“O-Oh…” Yugi gulped, shrinking in further to himself. There were _more_ creatures here? Not just Yami? Was he ever going to be able to leave?

“You’re safe so long as you don’t stray down any corridors without moss. Those are the guidelines I put up for every sacrifice, and let me tell you you’re not the first sacrifice to ignore my warnings and try to escape,” Yami’s gaze bore into him and Yugi ducked his head guiltily. “You have yet to suffer the same fate as them, though.”

“What am I to do, then?” Yugi whispered, pulling his knees up and resting his head atop them.

“Stay here, above ground level. It’s safe up here.”

“You just expect me to wait around and do nothing? What am I waiting for? Why do you insist on keeping me prisoner?” Yugi shivered, but it wasn’t from the coldness of the cave room. “I don’t know what you want from me…”

“I want you to not die, is that so hard to understand?” Yami grunted, brows creasing in obvious frustration. “Why must you be so fixated on this point? You have food, a safe place to live, no one throwing you at a ‘great beast’ to presumably be eaten up… where does your problem lie?!”

“There’s nothing to do! I have no purpose here!” Yugi buried his head in his knees, falling over onto his side. He felt fat, wet tears slide down his face, and he tightened his defensive ball. He heard Yami’s massive body shift slightly, claws scrapping against the ground, and he flinched. The sound stopped.

“Do you need a purpose in your life, to make you feel better?”

“If I don’t have a purpose, I’m of no use to anyone.” Yugi muttered. Yami’s keen hearing must have heard him, as he commented.

“You don’t need to be useful to others. You just need to look after yourself. Helping others comes as a bonus, but if you fail to look after yourself, then you won’t have the strength to look after others.”

Yugi couldn’t deny the truth in the dragon’s words. Yami seemed to know what he was talking about, and Yugi wondered how he sounded so wise. He supposed Yami had been around for quite some time, but then again, if he lived by himself, then how was he so good with giving advice?

“How about we make a deal?” Yami asked suddenly, and Yugi lifted his head inquisitively.

“What… kind of deal?” He asked, swiping a hand over his puffy cheeks.

“You live with me for two weeks, and I find you tasks to do, or give you things to keep you busy. After the two weeks are over, we can have another talk about what you want to do. If you… want to leave, after two weeks… I will not stop you.”

“Why two weeks?”

“I ask this of all my sacrifices.”

“But… then what happens afterwards?”

“Mostly I let them go. I have no use for maidens here, and they seem happier living out in the human societies.” Yami shrugged.

“You let them go?”

“I made that clear before, didn’t I? Do you see any humans around here?”

“Humans don’t really live for a hundred years.” Yugi pointed out.

Yami’s expression dropped. “True, I suppose.”

Yugi let out a deep breath, his thoughts shifting to Yami’s offer.

Yami seemed willing to help him, and if Yugi was being honest with himself, he really had no idea where he would go if he left the mountain. It was like trying to pick the lesser of two evils. Would it be worth staying here with Yami, and everything the dragontaur seemed to offer him? Or was there an ulterior motive to this all; Yami _had_ been adamant on Yugi staying, and refused to give a sufficient reason why.

But then he had saved Yugi from a supposedly dangerous crystal, and not knowing any better, it really _could_ have been life threatening to him.

 _And the deal is only for two weeks…_ He could live with two weeks.

“So… two weeks?” Yami pressed.

“Two weeks.” Yugi nodded.

* * *

Yami sauntered into Yugi’s room the next day. “Your first task will be to take a bath, because you need one.” He said, a hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

“That’s kind of rude to say,” Yugi glanced down at himself, discreetly trying to smell his clothes. “I don’t really have access to a pail of water nor a stream right now.” He left out the part about only ever bathing in the river once a week, because it was often too cold to risk getting sick.

“There is an underground lake here. I’ll take you.”

“I thought you said we can’t go underground?”

“It’s still technically above ground, I guess, but it’s below the entrance to the mountain, so it’s below us.”

“Is it a long walk?”

“Are you scared of walking?”

“You wouldn’t enjoy it either, if you had flimsy shoes on.”

“I don’t wear shoes.”

“You have _dragon_ feet. You probably don’t even feel the rocks jutting out of the ground as you walk over them.” Yugi gestured to Yami’s feet as he spoke, making a ‘ _you see my point?_ ’ face.

“You want me to carry you then?”

“N-No that’s fine, I can walk.” Yugi said, quickly nudging the idea away. The last time Yami had picked him up it hadn’t been under the best circumstances, and it left Yugi feeling not well about the idea.

“Suit yourself, at least keep a hand to my side so I know where you are.” Yami swung his body around, facing outwards. Yugi moved to his side, placing a hand on Yami’s hide.

“I’m ready.”

Yami grunted, setting off. Walking along the side with the moss, Yugi could see more, although he spent most of the time crushed against Yami’s hide, the width of the tunnel in some places forcing him closer to avoid the scrap of the rock surface.

It was hard to determine their position in the mountain, every tunnel felt the same to Yugi. He didn’t agree with having to let Yami lead him blindly, but Yami also hadn’t given him a reason to believe he would lead him astray. Yet.

All of the tunnels felt like they were horizontal, like they were travelling on the same level, but Yami had said they would be going down. Yugi wondered if it was a trick of the mountain, and that they were already down below the entrance, having sunken levels down on gentle inclines.

Soon the walls widen out, and once Yami moved out of Yugi’s view, Yugi was able to take in the entire cave.

Although cavern seemed like a better description; it was _huge_. They must have definitely already descended further down, which left Yugi wondering how such a huge hollowed out area could exist in the bulk of the mountain.

The rock dropped away into a lake, the surface calm and stagnant. The water was clear too, and leaning over the edge Yugi could see to the bottom, where a sea of stalagmites sat. The far side of the cavern was cast in shadow; Yugi couldn’t see that far away, it was so big.

“This is water that flows up from an underground spring, it’s always clean and safe. You can bathe here.” Yami said before trotting away. Yugi paused by the water, dipping a hand in to swirl around.

He jumped when he heard Yami sink to the ground, his body making a resounding _thump_ as it made contact. He laid down fully on his side, wings sprawled upwards.

“Uh… Aren’t you going to leave?”

“Why?” Yami reeled back, lifting up his head, confusion marring his face.

“Because I have to strip my clothes off. To you know, wash myself.” Yugi’s face heated up at the blank look Yami gave him.

“I don’t wear clothes. Just wash yourself, I won’t watch if privacy is your issue.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I wouldn’t trust me either, but unless you suddenly possess the ability to move my massive body out of his cave, you don’t have a choice.” Yami rolled over, giving Yugi a view of his back and wings.

Yugi gave a huff, but made no effort to move. He dug the sole of his sandals into the ground, rubbing it against the harsh surface of the rock, doing nothing to help their degradation. Yami didn’t seem to reaction, lying motionless on the ground. The minutes stretched on, and Yugi refused to budge, even when the lower temperature began to wear on him.

Yami suddenly sprung to his feet, grumbling loudly. “Fine, I’ll leave the cavern, but don’t you dare go trying to ‘explore’ again, alright? If I can’t watch you, I can’t protect you.”

“I get it, I won’t go anywhere okay.” Yugi glowered, barring his arms against his chest. Yami lingered for a moment longer, eyes straying between Yugi’s. Then he lumbered off, stomping out of the room and into the tunnel they had come through.

When Yugi was sure Yami was not loitering, he slipped out of the robe, untying the sash around his waist to let it fall down his torso. He stepped out of it, unpicking his sandals and sliding the bands off his arms. Once he had his possessions arranged in a pile, leaving him stark naked, he quickly entered the water, shivering at the initial coldness that seeped into his skin. Under the surface, the water was not as bad, but Yugi still didn’t want to linger around and risk getting sick. Without anything to scrub himself with, he drove under the water, carding his fingers through his hair to work out the knots.

He surfaced after his hair was smoothed out, frowning as his bangs clumped around his face, catching in his eyes. He peeled them away, splashing water over his face to clean it. It didn’t take long for most of the visible grime to wash away, and once he was done he rose, shivering as the damp atmosphere hit against his wet skin. He didn’t think to ask Yami for a towel at all, and now he regretted it. He wanted to wash his clothes, but then they would be too wet, and Yugi would be sure to catch a cold either way.

“Um… Y-Yami?” Yugi called out, stretching his neck, straining to see Yami’s lumbering form. He saw nothing in the darkness, not even able to hear him. “Yami! Are you there?” He tried again, still receiving no answer. _Damn it, this is what I get for chasing him off before,_ Yugi bit his lip. What was he supposed to do now? Get back into his robes? He supposed they weren’t _that_ dirty, and if it saved him freezing, then it was the better option. _One more day, and then I’ll have to bring it up with Yami._

He shrugged back into the tunic, cringing at the cold feeling of the exposed skin on his back as the water seeped through everywhere else. _Damn fabric barely covering anything, what were they expecting out of this outfit?_ Yugi immediately squished down the thought, knowing _exactly_ what it was made for. He tied the sash back into place, pushing toes into the sandals before taking off towards the tunnel entrance.

“Yami? You here?” Yugi peered into the tunnel, greeted by silence in the darkness. “ _Yami_.” He whined, stubbing a toe into the ground. Where was the half dragon?

“Yam-”

“Stop screaming! I’m right here.” Yami growled, face appearing out of the shadows. Yugi flinched involuntarily, backpedalling out of Yami’s reach.

“S-Sorry, but I didn’t see you. And you said not to go anywhere, but I’m cold. It’s cold down here.”

“What did you expect, a hot spring?” Yami said dully.

“Well, my clothes are wet now… And I don’t want to catch a cold…”

“Then you shouldn’t have put them back on.” Yami said, like it was the obvious thing to do.

“It’s not that simple,” Yugi sighed, then straightened. Having a sudden burst of courage, he added, “you wouldn’t understand, not wearing clothes.”

Yami snorted in response. “I don’t care. And you do have spare clothes, although I can’t guarantee they’ll fit, since most of them are for women. But there are spare tunics, if you had looked in your room.”

Yugi felt flustered over the comment. “You don’t have to be mean about it. Can you show me where these clothes are?” _Anything’s better than this,_ Yugi grimaced, tugging at the fabric in a feeble attempt to cover more skin. He hated feeling so exposed, especially when Yami didn’t seem to care about letting his eyes linger on Yugi’s form.

Especially now, as Yugi glared up at him, folding in on himself, while Yami sat back and coolly observed him. “Um do you mind?” Yugi burned brightly, shifting from foot to foot.

“About what?” Yami was staring rather hard at Yugi’s legs. To say he was getting creeped out would be an understatement.

“Please stop looking at me like you’re sizing me up.” Yugi attacked the hem of his tunic, mussing up the fabric there in an attempt to stay still and not bolt from Yami.

“I’m not doing that.” Yami frowned, finally tearing his gaze away from Yugi. He glanced behind him, grunting at something. “Anyway, if you want a clean tunic, we should head back to your room. Come on.”

Yugi for once didn’t argue.

* * *

The next day Yami wasn’t there in the morning. At least in what Yugi thought was the morning; the lack of sunlight making telling the time of day very difficult. He woke in what felt like the start of the day, and time had stretched on since then in a way that made him feel tired. His muscles were wound up, not used to sitting around so much.

He wanted to move around. He had already spent enough time pacing back and forth in the room, but moving too much made him thirsty, so he was forced to sit still. Which only made the problem worse.

He was glad to find enough time had passed that his tunic had dried, although Yugi was now reluctant to part with his current one, as the fabric covered more of his skin than the extremely revealing aspect of his ‘ceremonial robe’.

He had to give Yami credit for that; the tunics he kept seemed to be designed for comfort and practical wear, and they were more modest, which Yugi was grateful for.

The stomping of Yami’s heavy feet on the stone gave Yugi cause for relief. Maybe now he could actually find something to do, or somewhere else to go.

“Where were you? Half the day must be over by now.” Yugi asked as soon as Yami’s face appeared.

Yami reeled back, blinking rapidly in surprise. “I’m sorry? I’m not a butler here to wait on you. I have things to do, you know.”

“What kind of things?”

“Things little humans don’t need to know about.” Yami sneered, tossing something Yugi’s way. Yugi’s arms snapped forward just in time to catch it. “That’s breakfast. Or lunch, whatever you want to call it.”

Yugi looked down at the object, humming in surprise. It was an apple. _But how did he…?_ Another question came to the front of his mind before he could ask the other.

“How can you tell the time down here? Everything is so dark.” He avoided pointing out how Yami had once told him there were shafts of sunlight scattered over the tunnels. The only light Yugi had was in the glowing moss that lined the walls.

“There are sections of the cave on higher levels that have access to the outside. If I need to see the passage of time, I’ll go up there.” Yami answered, scratching his neck.

“So you were outside today, then?” Yugi deducted. Yami scowled, his tail smacking the ground in what Yugi assumed to be annoyance, his massive body shifting to face Yugi.

“What are you hoping to insinuate with that?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I just wanted to know if there was anywhere I could see outside. Get some sun.” Yugi muttered, lowering his gaze. He didn’t want to argue today.

“So you can escape?” Yami loomed over him, those sharp claws mere inches away from Yugi’s sandals. He stepped to the side, Yami’s head following him.

“So I can get some sun. Do you see how pale I am? I’ve spent more time in the sun in my life than you probably have here! Why are you so nicely tanned and I’m the colour of a radish?” Yugi groaned, pinching his skin. He also had to admit the cave system here seemed to stay permanently cold, and at night it grew colder. He wanted to at least spend some time soaking up some warmth.

Yami laughed, a hand clutching to his face. “I have to say, you make a valid point. All right, you’ve convinced me, no need to keep going at it.” His body shifted, and he held out a hand for Yugi. “Hand or side?”

“Side.” Yugi scuttled over to him, placing a hand over the scales there. Yami hummed, retreating his hand.

The path they followed had some moss along the side, but it was clumped differently to how Yugi was used to seeing it, and he swore the glow was weaker.

He felt a gentle incline, the ground meeting his steps sooner than he expected, making it feel like travelling up a slope. He supposed he was, but without a decent light source, he couldn’t tell.

“Yami?” Yugi asked, waiting until he heard a grunt of acknowledgement before continuing. “Do you have any light source around here?”

“There’s moss on most of the walls, if you look.”

“But not everywhere.”

“Mmm.”

“What about torches?”

“I don’t have the kind of supplies to burn torches. Besides, smoke will cling to the roof of the tunnels, and you’ll end up suffocating yourself.”

Yugi shivered, fingers twitching against Yami’s hide. “What about candles?”

Yami paused, humming. “I don’t have any candles. I used them all up about forty years ago.”

“Can… you get more?”

“…Possibly.”

The tunnel opened up into another large room, similar to the one he had bathed in with the underground lake. This one wasn’t quite as expansive, though. Instead, the ceiling was high, so much so Yami wouldn’t even be able to reach it, unless he flew up. It made Yugi wonder what those wings would look like spread out, and if Yami could even fly with them. They seemed so small always pressed to his side.

Light pooled in from various holes littering the roof. Yugi could make out nothing but brightness beyond them, white burning his eyes enough that he had to look away, blinking rapidly to restore his vision.

The majority of the space was lit up with the spots on the ground where the light touched them, and immediately Yugi could tell a difference in the temperature from the tunnels.

“This is one of the upper levels of the cave. You should be able to reach it easily from your room. Feel free to come here whenever you want.” Yami said, already beginning to turn back around.

“You’ll let me wander around? Just like that?” Yugi blinked in surprise, reeling back to see Yami’s reaction better.

Yami just shrugged. “I’ll always know where you are anyway. I know this place like the back of my hand. You do not. Just stick to the paths the moss makes, and you won’t go wrong.”

“What about last time?”

“I’ve already ripped most of the moss off the walls that leads down that path. You should be safe. Just please, stick to the moss. I don’t want to have to keep you locked in that room.”

“I understand.” Yugi nodded, moving away from Yami’s side. He walked over to one of the light patches, sitting in the middle of it and sighing. The warmth from the ray was soothing, and he couldn’t resist curling up into a ball, closing his eyes and letting the sun wash over him.

He barely realised when Yami left, too lost in the comforting warmth to care.

* * *

“Where do you keep getting all these fruits from? Do trees magically grow down here?” Yugi hummed, wriggling his toes as he sat in a beam of light.

Yami shifted off to his side, and he peered over to see the dragontaur adjusting himself, the patches of light that had been warming sections of his skin moving to other parts as he fumbled around.

“The problem with being so big with little light,” he mumbled in way of explanation. “No, there’s no soil for trees to grow, and the only source of water in the mountain comes from the underground lake.”

“Then where do they come from?” Yugi asked, biting a chunk out of his apple to chew.

“Outside sources.”

“That’s very vague. What kind of outside sources?”

“People who come to bring me things I cannot get here.”

“So just about everything then.”

Yami shot him a glare. Yugi threw his hands up defensively. “Sorry! But it’s true, you have to admit.”

“I would not have a problem going out to find my own supplies, but you humans are everywhere, and it would be so hard for me to hide. I would not like to incite the wrath of your people.”

Yugi spluttered, swinging his head up to gaze wide eyed at Yami. “You’re kidding, right? Us humans are afraid of _you_! People pass down stories of how you used to terrify all of the surrounding villages, until the sacrifice deal was made!”

“Well it’s partially true,” Yami chuckled, his face turning serious. “But what happened wasn’t my fault, nor was it me.”

“If you didn’t terrorise people then, why didn’t you clear your name when it happened?”

“Because humans are awful creatures when they are scared. Now imagine a village scared of monsters attacking them, and out of the blue a half man half dragon beast shows up trying to talk to them. What would you do?”

“Fair… point, I guess.” Yugi looked down, chewing on his lip. When he put it that way… Yugi felt bad for the dragontaur. _To be locked away here, unable to see the world all because of some nasty rumours and fear threatening his life every time he steps out… No wonder he doesn’t care for any of the sacrifices._

“So… ah…” Yami looked nervous suddenly, and Yugi looked up at him.

“Yeah?”

“Some… companions of mine are going to be here tonight.”

“The mysterious outside source of your supplies?”

“...More or less.”

“And I get to meet them?”

“Yes. They won’t be arriving until late evening I suspect. We’ll spend the day around here and you can come with me to the surface to greet them.”

 _The surface…_ Yugi grinned. _I can’t wait to see the sky again!_

* * *

The day passed by lazily, Yugi too interested in the arrival of these new faces to care about doing anything with his time. He sat propped up against Yami’s side, the smooth scaly hide surprisingly comfortable to lean against. He hadn’t wanted to originally, but apparently at some point during the day he dozed off, face squashed into the harsh rock, and Yami had shifted him to his side. When Yugi had realised this, he had gone to move away, but the smoothness of Yami’s scales compared to the rough texture of the rocks had lulled him into staying.

“Evening is upon us. We should leave now. Perhaps we might be able to catch the sunset.” Yami spoke up.

“I’d love to see that!” Yugi scrambled to his feet, wide smile spreading his face. Yami took a moment longer, his forearms pressing into the rock to steady his body as he rose.

“Then let’s go.” Yami held out his hand to Yugi, and this time Yugi decided to take it, slipping his hand into Yami’s.

They travelled down a passageway, turning off before they reached the room Yami cooked in, and Yugi noticed the path getting steeper.

“Are we going up?”

“The entrance to the mountain from this side is high up, not quite near the peak but enough that it takes at least an hour to scale. It makes it harder for unwanted visitors to get in. And for others to get out.”

Yugi shivered, imagining a great mass of shadows trying to escape into the world. He was grateful he hadn’t run into any of these monsters yet, although a part of him did consider the possibility of Yami lying to him to keep him from discovering other exits in the mountain. Without proof of these creatures existing, he really had no idea what to believe, but he didn’t want to risk running into one, if they were real.

“This is it.” Yami said, right as they walked out into bright sunlight. “Watch your eyes. They’ll need a moment to adjust to the light.”

Yugi nodded, squinting with a hand to his face. He kept his eyes closed, feeling as much as seeing the light through his eyelids. He waited a moment before peeking out of one, and then allowed the other to open as well.

The sunset was beautiful, a smudged mess of yellows and oranges spreading out into the sky, only to be swallowed by the dark of night the further up he looked. The gentle winking of stars above was a welcome sight. He didn’t mind the darkness when it was like this, with so many colours to see.

He heard the crunch of stone under boots, and he shrunk back on instinct.

Two figures appeared below them, making their way up the side of the hill. Yugi shot a quick glance to Yami, who offered him a small smile in return.

“It’s alright, they’re friends.”

Yugi looked away, embarrassed he had been so easy to read.

The two people soon reached their position outside the cave entrance, and Yami stepped forward to greet them.

“Serenity, Jou, welcome back.” Yami held out his hands, and the two people grasped one each.

“Good to see you again Yami.” The man, Jou, Yugi assumed, said.

“You’re looking well. There’s a nice shine to your beautiful scales today.” Serenity beamed.

“Thank you.” Yami ducked his head, and Yugi thought he saw a blush dust his cheeks. Those red eyes locked onto Yugi’s, and Yami coughed awkwardly. “This is the sacrifice from this century, Yugi.” He gestured to Yugi, and Yugi dipped his head.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Look at you! You two have kind of similar hair, isn’t that weird?” Jou said excitedly.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” Yami pulled one of his bangs into his line of sight, squinting at it. Yugi supposed he didn’t see his reflection much, and probably didn’t have people describe his looks often. Or ever.

“Blonde bangs are pretty uncommon, especially dual toned hair.” Yugi agreed, slipping his own bangs behind his ears.

“It’s cute, like having a mini Yami around.” Jou cooed, reaching out to muss up Yugi’s hair.

“Hey! I’m _Yugi_ , not _Yami_! _He’s_ Yami, _I’m_ Yugi!” Yugi shot the other man a glare, swatting his hand away.

“Wow you’re feisty! I like it, we should have a sparring match sometime!” Jou laughed, and Yugi noticed the sword resting at his side for the first time. He subconsciously pressed closer to Yami, swallowing nervously. He didn’t know how to use a sword, he’d only ever done farm work before.

Yami must have sensed his unease, for he spoke up, silencing Jou.

“We should head inside, it’s getting dark.” Yami shooed them into the cavern entrance, his bulky form cutting off the outside as he stomped inside after them.

With Yami behind them, Jou led the way with his sister, and Yugi suspected that the other had visited this place before, if not frequently, from how he moved confidently through the tunnel.

They reached a crossroads, and Yugi recognised the moss leading off to his room in front of them.

“Serenity, would you please take Yugi back to his room? I have something to discuss with Jou. You two should get to know each other anyway.” Yami asked, body lowering so his human half was closer to them.

“Of course,” Serenity turned to Yugi, tugging on his arm. “Let’s go Yugi! I can tell you about all the current worldy affairs if you want.”

“I’d like that.” Yugi smiled, allowing himself to be led forward.

They left Yami and Jou behind, Yugi hearing them take off down a different tunnel while he took Serenity to his room.

Yugi waited until they had both settled on the bed before beginning to hound Serenity with his questions. “So how do you two know Yami then? Seems kind of weird that people would know a dragontaur.”

“We’re the grandchildren of his previous sacrifice. Our grandmother never forgot Yami letting her go, and we grew up being told stories about him, until we were old enough to travel, and Jou and I went to see him for the first time. My time in my town keeps me busy most times, but Jou comes out a couple of times a year to bring Yami things he can’t normally have. He enjoys the company.”

“And you just come see him like that? Seems so casual.”

“He’s a family friend. We like to check up on him. He lives for so long, it must surely get lonely at this mountain.”

“I don’t understand. If Yami never hurt any of his sacrifices and released them, why had the villages in the region never heard of them again?”

“Most of them went up north, to the Great City, and even beyond. They went places out of reach, where no one would know them.”

“But what about those with families? Didn’t they miss them?” Yugi pressed.

“I’m sure some of them did. But mostly the last few centuries have been dedicated to trying to send off people who are outcasts of the villages, or don’t have families to mourn them. It’s one person every hundred years, after all.” Serenity shrugged.

“So your grandmother was the previous sacrifice? What was it like for her, then?”

“Her parents died in a fire, leaving her an orphan. She was an easy choice for the sacrifice. Yami let her go when she wanted to leave, and she travelled around, met someone she loved, and had our father. Not much else to tell I’m afraid. We all live quite happily, keeping her memory going.”

“But how do you know about Yami then, if this all happened a hundred years ago?”

“Some of the sacrifices who went off to have families kept the memory of Yami alive, teaching their children about it and even taking them to see him. Some of them were just taught to leave sacrifices near the mountain every few years, while others, like my brother and I, come to see him. We love Yami, he’s a wonderful person.”

“Dragontaur.”

“He’s still a person, and has feelings.” Serenity smiled. “Give him a chance to get to know you, and you him. You’ll see I’m right.”

Yugi just nodded along, letting the conversation shift into more easy going topics. Serenity asked him about his home life, and what it was life growing up. In turn, Yugi asked about hers, and what life was like in the north.

Soon Serenity was yawning, tired from her journey. Yugi suggested they get some rest, and he let Serenity share the bed with him, curling up at one end while she took the other.

As Serenity’s breath deepened, Yugi wriggled out of the sheets, quietly tiptoeing out of the room. He was curious to see what Yami and the other man, Jou, were discussing. It was clearly something Yami wasn’t keen on Yugi hearing, if he sent Serenity off to keep Yugi busy.

He followed the familiar path to what he had taken to calling the kitchen area, but the cave room was dark, no one there.

He huffed, not sure where else to go. Could he work his way back up to the surface? Possibly, but he might get lost, and he didn’t want to run the risk of stumbling into Yami, who would disapprove of his late night wandering.

A feint glow caught his attention, not like that of the fluorescent moss. It was more like… _Like a candle,_ Yugi realised.

He changed direction, jogging along the path towards the light. The area he could see grew bigger, and soon the whispers of words reached his ears.

“I don’t know what to do this time Jou.” Yami’s voice drifted to him, and Yugi crept closer, keeping low to the ground. He was right in front of the entrance to no doubt another cave, where Yami and Jou must be.

“What are you so worried about? Just be yourself dude. You’re being a little overprotective you know.”

“I know but what if he keeps wandering off! With that kind of curiosity he’ll get himself killed. I don’t want to see that Jou.”

“No one does pal, but you can’t baby him. Yugi’s his own person. You gotta respect his boundaries, or else he won’t respect you.”

A long tired sigh. Yugi shuffled closer, craning his neck to see.

Jou was sitting by Yami’s side, running what looked to be a wet cloth over the scaled hide. Yami’s human torso was leaning on a flat rock, his head on top of his arms.

“I just don’t want to screw this up. I feel like I already have. I’m so rusty with people.”

“Yami you’re _fine_. Stop worrying so much. Why is this a big deal for you? Just let him go after the two weeks are up and everything goes back to normal.”

Yami grunted, pursing his lips. “I don’t know if I want things to go back to normal.”

Jou paused in his actions to shoot his friend a confused look. “Well why not? I thought you enjoyed the solitude here.”

“I do, partly. But… I’ve been alone so long, Jou. And this isn’t like the other times, where I knew they would want to leave as soon as I would allow them. I… I’m worried he’ll go, Jou. And I’ll never see him again.”

“He doesn’t like it here though does he? Does he want to go back to his village? Has he mentioned anyone on the outside he misses?”

“…No. But then again, I haven’t spoken to him that much about his family. He is rather tight lipped about it, and I can’t say I blame him. If he doesn’t want to discuss his life before, then I won’t press about it.”

“But we both know he can’t go back to that life anyway. It would be too suspicious, and they would probably throw him right back here. He only has two choices; try his luck up north, or stay here with you.”

“He’d never stay. Life in this mountain is awful for a human. I could never ask him to give up the world beyond just to stay here with me. He wouldn’t want that.”

“How can you be sure?”

“How can you doubt that? Just look at me Jou. I’m a mess, and it’s nearly impossible for me to keep my emotions in check. I get angry easily, and I can’t stop myself from lashing out.”

“You’re not that bad Yami, give yourself some credit!”

“I’m half dragon, Jou. Every human feeling I feel is tripled, and it’s overwhelming. I wish I could do better, but I can’t. I’ll be in this mountain forever.”

“You’re not alone, Yami. We’ll be here, and even after we’re gone, we’ll make sure others will always be here for you. Chin up bud. You’ll be fine. This will all work out, you’ll see.”

“You sound so confident I can’t help but believe you,” Yami laughed. “And yet I’m still worried. I’ll try, Jou. That’s all I can offer.”

 _Is that really how he feels?_ Yugi clutched the fabric of his tunic, fingers digging into the soft cotton. _I had no idea life was like that for him… he should have told me._

 _And what, have you laugh at his pain?_ A voice in the back of his head scoffed. Yugi gritted his teeth, but he was forced to agree with it. He probably would have brushed it all off if Yami had told him all of that directly, too blinded by his impression of the dragontaur in his anger.

He pushed away from the wall, having heard enough. He snuck back down the tunnel and worked his way back to the room via the moss glowing along the wall.

He slipped back under the sheets, frowning deeply. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep that night.


	4. Chapter 4

“You’re leaving already?” Yugi blinked back his surprise, frowning. “But you just got here yesterday…”

They were standing back at the tunnel entrance, the sunlight beaming down on them as Yugi and Yami stood saying goodbye.

“We don’t live that far away,” Jou shrugged. “And besides, I’ll be back soon enough when your two weeks is up.”

“Oh.” Yugi said uselessly. He nodded, offering Serenity a fake smile to warrant off suspicion. “Well have a safe trip then, won’t you?”

“We will.” Serenity smiled back.

“You take care of yourself big guy.” Jou mockingly punched Yami’s hide, to which Yami grunted.

“I shouldn’t be the one you worry about. I can take care of myself.” Yami puffed his chest out, crossing his arms.

“But you’re not alone right now, are ya?” Jou tossed him a wink, and Yugi pretended not to see, knowing he wasn’t supposed to overhear them the previous night.

“Until then! Take care you two!” Jou shouted, waving frantically as he began the trek down the mountain with Serenity. Yugi waved back at them, watching from Yami’s side as the siblings left.

After they could no longer see the forms of Jou and Serenity moving in the distance, Yami shifted his body towards Yugi, leaning down and closer.

“You know, I kind of lied to you yesterday.”

“You did?” Yugi blinked. “About what?”

“About where I get my fruit from,” Yami hummed. “Some of my things come from Jou and others, but my fruit I pick fresh from my orchard.”

“You have an orchard?” Yugi felt his excitement grow. “Can I see?”

“Of course.” Yami chuckled, turning away from the cave entrance. “Follow me, it’s down here.”

Yugi bounced excitedly after him, glad to be out in the proper sunlight, willing his body to soak it up while they walked.

They went down the hillside, following a winding path through the rock and boulders. Yami’s massive form navigated it easily, showing a mastery of the landscape.

The mountain twisted to their side, and the path dipped down more, heading away from the hill and more towards the surrounding forest. Yugi couldn’t resist reaching out to touch some of the trees as they walked past, absorbing in all the lush greenery he had gone without recently.

Soon the trees changed in appearance, and Yugi could see fruit hanging from some of them. He turned back to Yami expectantly.

“This is my secret orchard.” Yami said, gesturing wildly. “I grow oranges, apples, and sometimes when the weather allows it, grapes.”

“Do you make wine?” Yugi asked, walking forward to examine the trees.

“Occasionally, in the past. Some of my past sacrifices have had a thirst for it, and I wasn’t one to deny it. Apparently my legs make for great grape crushers.” Yami snickered, looking thoughtfully at a tree close by.

“I can imagine. You’d be a great wine maker.” Yugi hummed, reaching out to an apple dangling close by. “May I?” He turned back to see Yami nod, so he plucked it off the branch, taking a bite. The juices ran from his lips down his chin, and Yugi marvelled at the sweet taste.

“Oh it’s great!” He beamed a smile at Yami, who dipped his head in response.

“I’m glad you like them. Feel free to grab a few, it saves me having to return tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, sure.” Yugi reached further out, plucking more apples off the trees. He moved past the apple rows towards the oranges, taking a few of those as well.

“I think this should be enough.” Yugi smiled, his hands full, cradling all of the fruit.

“Let’s head back inside then.”

They re-entered the mountain, once again cloaked in darkness. Yami led them back to the kitchen room, where Yugi promptly placed the fruit down in a pile on the ground carefully.

“Care to go for a walk?” Yami offered him once Yugi was done.

“I’d like that.” Yugi smiled, stifling a giggle at the way Yami’s ears flicked up.

“Great.” Yami gave him a toothy smile, shifting on his feet excitedly. “Ride or walk?”

“Let’s walk together.”

“I’d like that.” Yami chuckled, walking forward. Yugi kept to Yami’s side, content to keep his hands by his sides and take his time. Yami also walked slowly; neither of them seemed in a hurry, both happy to just enjoy the other’s presence.

Yugi couldn’t help sneaking glances at Yami. Without a distraction, his mind kept wandering back to last night, and the conversation he had overheard between Yami and Jou. Living in solitude for so many years, only having it broken up every now and then by a sacrifice and sometimes the children- or grandchildren, in Jou and Serenity’s case- of them… Yugi really felt for the guy. So long alone wasn’t good for anyone, and Yami didn’t seem to enjoy it that much.

But then Yugi supposed Yami couldn’t leave this mountain either, not with the reception he could receive outside. So he was stuck here, and was forced to try and make the best of it; alone, most of the time. The thought was enough to make Yugi sad, he could only wonder how Yami felt living it. _But you know how he feels,_ Yugi scolded himself. _You eavesdropped on him. He’s lonely._

Yugi shook his head, concentrating on the path and carrying his fruit instead.

“Do you think Jou and Serenity would mind helping me find a new start? If I left?” Yugi asked, trying to keep his questions vague.

Yami still seemed surprised regardless, shooting Yugi a curious, and yet suspicious look. “What makes you ask this?”

“I’m trying to consider my options.” Yugi admitted. He was, after all, in a tight spot right now, and whatever he chose, there was a good chance he would have to commit to it. “I want to make sure I make the right choice.”

Yami nodded, seemingly buying it. “I suppose he would. Jou does like to help as much as he can, and if I asked this of him, I am sure he would be happy to. I do not know how much longer Serenity will be living with him. It sounds like she may seek a suitor soon, to keep her family line going. Jou certainly won’t be doing that.”

“Not the romantic type, huh?”

“Not in the least.” Yami snorted. “I try to teach him and he just flails at the moment of trial. It is not for everyone, though, and that’s fine.”

“Does that make you a master of it?” Yugi chuckled, to which Yami straightened up, puffing his chest out.

“I might be.”

“I see no evidence of it. Perhaps a demonstration is in order?” Yugi said. He enjoyed the pause Yami took, almost like a stumble as his feet flexed against the rock. _For someone who makes it very obvious what they want, he seems to not know how to deal with flirting at all,_ Yugi observed.

Yami made a quick recovery, bouncing back. “I would be more than happy to give you a demonstration.” Yami practically purred, lips curling upwards. He bent his body in an awkward bow, the best he could manage in his form, Yugi guessed.

Yugi just laughed, shaking his head. “I’d like to see what you can do,” and he found that it was true; he was curious how Yami would act, knowing Yugi was somewhat openly flirting with him.

Yami opened his mouth to reply, but his expression dropped, and he looked off to the side, slightly confused. “Yugi…” He paused, his body stopping.

“What is it?” Yugi also stopped, peering up at the other. He took in the apprehensive look on Yami’s face, the way he seemed to be sensing something. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” Yami replied, sniffing loudly. “I can smell something evil on the air…”

“Is this like the crystals?” Yugi stepped back hesitantly, closer to the safety of Yami’s dragon body.

“No, it’s different, but still dangerous. It may be best for us to…” Yami suddenly jumped, his eyes dilating and his body freezing up. “I can smell burnt wood.”

“Burnt wood?” Yugi frowned, trying to peer through the darkness of the tunnel. Without a light source, his eyes couldn’t see much in the tunnel aside from blurred shapes of the rock. “Why would there be wood burning down here, in a cavern system?”

“Because it comes from something not normal.” Yami’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward. “You should leave, now.”

“But… what about you?” Yugi shook his head. “Yami what’s going on?”

“There’s-”

A sudden growl cut Yami off. Yugi gazed forward, but he couldn’t see anything, aside from the shadows moving in waves. Something seemed off though, the hairs on the back of his neck sticking up in apprehension. He felt like he was in danger, but from what?

He took a closer look, squinting his eyes. There was something unnatural about the way the shadows seemed to move, almost like they were grounded to a spot. _That’s weird,_ Yugi stepped closer, trying to see more.

The moment he moved forward, he heard a hiss, and the shadows retreated further. “What the…” He yelped when the darkness suddenly sprung forward, the form of a four legged beast taking shape through the wisps.

He landed harshly on his ass, grunting at the impact.

“Yugi watch out!” He heard Yami shout somewhere behind him. His eyes stayed glued to the shadowy beast in front of him, the somewhat noticeable fangs dripping drool onto the rock below. Its beady eyes focused in on Yugi, some kind of magical energy surrounding them, the only way Yugi was able to tell where they were looking.

He gulped.

“Get down!” Yami roared, his body sailing over Yugi’s head, just as Yugi lowered himself flat against the ground. The bulky frame of Yami’s dragon half took up a huge portion of the cavern width, making it hard for him to make tight manoeuvres in, especially with his wings scraping at his sides.

He reared up, front legs lashing out with their claws at the beast. He bent his human half back, head pushed upwards to keep an eye on the creature while protecting his weaker part.

The beast scurried back, hissing loudly, claws scraping angrily against the rock, useless. Yami roared back in challenge, pulling up to his full stance, even spreading out his wings as much as he could, which admittedly wasn’t much from what Yugi could see.

The creature seemed to be weighing up its options, and Yami’s form for weak spots. Its head turned towards Yugi, the tiny chips boring into him.

“Yami…” Yugi could barely speak, his form shaking uncontrollably. It was like the mere sight of this creature was enough to strike fear deep inside him.

Suddenly it tore forward, lunging into the air to try and break through Yami’s defence. Yami pushed his weight to the side, his dragon shoulder crashing into the beast, forcing it into the side of the tunnel where it collided with the harsh rock.

A horrible screeching sound tore from its throat, and it began to thrash wildly, legs tossing in each and every direction with its deadly claws lashing out. One of its legs made contact with Yami’s shoulder, sharp nails digging into the scaly hide there. Yami screamed at the attack, leaning further into the rock as a result, crushing the creature harder.

It seemed resistant however, another arm coming up to sink claws into another part of Yami’s hide, tearing at the scales. Yami’s cry grew louder, and he stumbled away from it, but the creature stayed attached to him.

It brought its mouth down, rows of sharp teeth plunging into Yami’s skin, at the joint between his human and dragon halves, ripping the small piece of fabric tied there effortlessly.

Yami cried out, a forearm reaching out to dig claws into the shadowy tuffs. He ripped the creature off his body, tossing it with a loud grunt of effort to slam against the opposite wall of the tunnel. It gave a yelp, clearly hitting something painfully.

It collapsed to the ground, twitching violently as it tried to right itself. Yami in turn slumped down, his legs sliding over the rock to give out with a loud _thump_. He looked worn out, and his face was scrunched up in obvious pain.

The creature rose to its feet, re-evaluating its situation. The eyes shot from Yami to Yugi behind him. Yugi folded into himself more, shifting to be more behind Yami, out of its vision.

The creature gave one last hiss of warning before scurrying off, its claws scraping against the rock as it scampered away into the tunnel’s depths.

Yami breathed a loud sigh of relief, but it gradually shifted into a series of loud pants.

Yugi took a moment to compose himself, getting shakily to his feet. He walked around, minding Yami’s tail and ducking under his slumped wings. He reached Yami’s front, intent on thanking the dragontaur for protecting him. The words died on his tongue as he took in the damage.

Yami’s shoulder was bleeding openly from a series of wounds, the blood merging them into one giant river of pain.

“You’re hurt. Badly.” Yugi gasped, raising a hesitant hand near the wound. Blood trickled down in a healthy amount, globs cascading down each time Yami’s muscles flexed his hide.

“It’s fine,” Yami grunted, shifting his shoulder away from Yugi’s wandering hand. “It’ll heal.”

“Not on its own it won’t,” Yugi scolded, biting his lip. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah.” Yami tensed, putting his weight on his other set of legs. “Barely.”

“Can you make it to the underground pool?”

“I guess. Why?”

“We need to clean the wound.”

“I said it’ll heal.”

“Please won’t you go? I feel awful, you’re sitting here losing all this blood, and it’s all my fault.” Yugi looked down, ashamed.

Yami grew silent, his light panting the only sound in the tunnel. Eventually he let out a sigh, but it sounded more tired than agitated. “All right.” He conceded, pushing back onto the weight of his dragon feet.

“I think I remember the place, I’ll lead the way.” Yugi placed a warm hand against Yami’s underbelly, keeping away from the blood trailing down. Yami just grunted, his teeth gritted together as he tried to ignore the pain.

Yugi whispered encouraging words, keeping a hand on Yami’s side as he went, making sure to match the other’s slower pace. He didn’t want to rush Yami and risk stretching the wounds, but he was also eager to wash off all the blood and evaluate the severity of the damage. It was hard to tell, looking at a sea of red, brighter and that much more visible that Yami’s duller scale colour as they passed shafts of light. The comparison made Yugi wonder if his scales were linked to his health, and if they lost their shine when he wasn’t doing well.

It didn’t take long to reach the underground lake, even with Yami’s slowed pace. It made Yugi worry about how close that beast had been, and the danger of if he had encountered it alone was not lost to him. He quickly stopped worrying about it.

He led Yami over to the water, giving the other space as Yami sunk into the pool. He stayed near the shallows, where Yugi crouched down next to the edge.

The water quickly began to shift in colour, taking on a reddish hue as the blood spread throughout it. Yami heaved a heavy sigh, dropping his hands over the edge to rest his head on. He closed his eyes, seemingly content to just sit there, submerged in the lake. Yugi had other plans.

He lifted his tunic over his torso, leaving his chest bare. He scooted closer, mindful of the drops of water pooling off the overhanging section of Yami’s human body over the rock.

Dipping an edge of his tunic into the water to wet it, he set to work dabbing at the sections of Yami’s shoulder that rested above the water. He gently patted over the part where his scarf had torn, tugging off the tattered material with one hand while he soaked up the blood in his tunic with the other.

He pulled it into the water to squeeze the blood out before ringing the shirt and repeating the process. It took a while of doing this before the blood seemed to stem its flow, and he was able to wipe the rest off, cleaning the scales of any excess.

With most of Yami’s blood gone now, Yugi felt bold enough to engage a conversation.

“Yami… What exactly was that thing that attacked us?” He asked, looking up at the other.

Yami peered back at him, eyes watching him carefully. “One of the shadow beasts that roam around. The further down into the caverns you go, the closer you get to their domain. That one was a fairly low level, I think.”

“If that’s what you’d call ‘low level,’ I’d really hate to see what classifies as a ‘high level’ one.” Yugi shuddered, staring down at his drenched tunic.

“They’re not supposed to be up this far,” Yami sighed, shifting his head to watch Yugi better. “They don’t often travel further than the lower levels, but the subterranean as a whole lacks sun, so they are technically able to explore wherever they wish.”

“Then what stops them from escaping? Or finding your caves?”

“Me, of course.” Yami snorted.

Yugi sucked in his breath. That explained… a lot. “So that’s why you’re here, and you never leave.”

“Someone has to keep them from running amuck topside.”

“What about the sun?”

“What about the night?”

“Oh… I didn’t think about that.” Yugi glanced away.

“They could easily hide away from the sun during the day, but at night they would be free to roam. The kingdom would stand no chance, not even your human knights and mages.”

“But the city-”

“Does not care about this issue. Not until it affects them will they care, either.”

“But it does affect them! Why don’t you tell them?”

“You think I haven’t already?” Yami shot him a look, and Yugi quietened. “Once, many centuries ago, I asked the then king for help. Back then I wasn’t some ‘great beast’ and dragons were more revered. I was shot down; without evidence they would not care, but to give them evidence was to invite the mayhem of a shadow creature into their world. I did not want to see the horror of their eyes light up at the potential of a new beast to tame. Shortly after, dragons became game to be hunted, and I left the world behind.”

“But that’s awful…” Yugi shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut at the imagery Yami’s story brought forth. The age of dragon hunting was _hundreds_ of years ago, a time people sung songs of and mocked the great beasts in slaying epics at taverns. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re one in a million,” Yami said, not unkindly. “As much as you may mean it, your apologies for your ancestor’s actions do little to me.”

 Yugi curled in more to himself. “I know me saying so is worthless, but I’m still sorry you have to go through this.”

Yami went quiet, his body shifting slightly in the water, the gentle splashes the only sounds in Yugi’s ears. He glanced up, looking to the side to check on the dragontaur.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Yami spoke up, his head bouncing over his crossed hands. “I do not find your words worthless. I am honoured you continue to speak to me, even now. The events of the distant past are worth nothing to me, it was so long ago it is barely worth mentioning. I am resigned to my fate.”

Yugi merely nodded, letting his legs slide out somewhat, keeping his sandals away from the wet parts of the rock. His gaze slid over to Yami’s, and he didn’t miss the way Yami’s eyes raked all over his chest, clearly enjoying the view. He could see how much Yami was infatuated with him, and he wasn’t pushing himself on Yugi, so he was content to let the dragontaur look.

One of Yami’s hands pulled out from under his head, and he extended it forward, his fingers uncurling from his palm in offer.

But offer of what? Yugi gave the other a questioning glance, but Yami just stared at him, unmoving. Knowing he wasn’t going to get an answer, Yugi sighed, placing a hand in Yami’s.

Yami shifted closer, bringing Yugi’s hand to his lips to kiss it softly. “Thank you, for doing this for me.” He said, his gaze tender.

“I’m just repaying the favour. You saved me back there.” Yugi tried to hide his blush. He almost wanted Yami to go back to snapping at him, feeling it to be more familiar territory than what was happening between them right now. At least that didn’t confuse him.

Yami hummed, slowly releasing Yugi’s hand. Yugi was in no hurry to snatch it back, so he let their touch linger as his fingers slowly slide out of Yami’s. It felt… strange.

“You have no shirt on.” Yami commented.

“You’ve already made that pretty obvious.” Yugi raised an eyebrow, and Yami had the decency to flush.

“I don’t see many naked men, so forgive my boldness.” Yami muttered, tearing his gaze away from Yugi. Yugi just chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest to spare Yami the trouble.

“You get pretty formal when you’re nervous.” Yugi observed, and Yami only fumbled more, his fingers drumming into the ground in an obvious bid for a distraction.

“Are you going to sit there criticising me for the rest of the day? Because if so then you can just leave.”

“I’m not going back out there without you. Even if I have to sleep here shirtless.” Yugi stated adamantly.

Yami frowned in confusion. “You’ll catch a cold.”

“Better than being shredded by some shadow beast.”

“They shouldn’t return for quite some time. I believe I scared off any chance of them wandering further up with my presence. Even in their world, dragons are something to be feared.” Yami boasted, tipping his head up, only to wince as the action caused him pain. “My side is killing me, damn it.”

“Hey, take it easy would you? You’re hurt remember, give yourself time to heal.” Yugi scolded, scrunching his brows to give Yami a pouty look.

Yami returned it with a grin, chuckling as Yugi’s frown deepened.

“I guess I could probably move to my room now.” Yami grunted, pushing off the ground. He made a straining sound, his dragon body jerking up, a clawed paw coming out to scrape over the rock. The rest of his body soon followed as he heaved himself out of the water.

“Hey! Hey, stop moving!” Yugi scrambled to his feet, waving his arms to get the other’s attention. “I said give yourself time to heal! Don’t reopen the wounds!”

“Relax Yugi, I’m part dragon.” Yami said smoothly, reaching out to give Yugi a tap on the nose. “We heal quicker than your kind.”

“If those wounds reopen, I will kill you.” Yugi promised, expression deadpan, arms crossing over his chest. Yami paused for a moment, worry flickering over his gaze.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t reopen the wound and you have nothing to fear.”

Yami bit his lip, looking away quickly. He shambled forward, limping out of the cavern. Yugi scrambled to squeeze up next to his front, keeping a close eye on the wound on Yami’s side.

This time it took slightly longer for them to reach their destination, Yami taking it slower so as to not mess with the tender healing process. Despite his tough talk, Yugi knew Yami would still need time to heal properly.

Entering Yami’s cave that served as his resting chamber, Yugi stepped off to the side, allowing Yami plenty of room to limp over to his makeshift sleeping arrangement, where he promptly flopped down onto the pile of pillows and fabrics there, a loud sigh vibrating through the room.

Yugi lingered around, awkwardly standing there. Yami caught on fast, sensing he was still there.

“Aren’t you going back to your room?” Yami asked, barely lifting his head from the pillow.

“I’d like to stay here, if it’s all right with you.” Yugi said, arms pressed up to his chest, trying somewhat to cover his exposed skin.

Yami gave him a confused look, but shrugged tiredly. “Suit yourself. There’s a blanket by the far corner, you can use that if you’re not going back to your room for a new tunic.”

Yugi glanced over, seeing the blanket. He walked over to snatch it up, returning to Yami’s side and beginning to make himself comfortable.

“You’re fine with sleeping here? Right next to me? It’s awfully close.” Yami commented.

“I won’t be able to sleep if I’m left alone.” Yugi admitted, curling in on himself, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself.

From his position he couldn’t see Yami’s expression, but he heard a soft sigh, and the feet in his vision moved, wrapping around with Yami’s tail to pull closer to Yugi, the warm scales pushing against his legs, non-invasive, but close enough to ward off the cold.

Yugi found he barely shivered, enclosed in the crescent of warmth Yami radiated. He closed his eyes, a small smile tugging at his lips, the soft belly pressed against his back comforting and soothing his worries as he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments! Much appreciated! See you guys next week for the final chapter in this little story!


	5. Chapter 5

Yugi woke up warm and comfortable. He mumbled, curling closer to the source of heat, cooing softly. His bed shifted, twitching slightly. Yugi ignored it, but grumbled out his irritation as it continued to move.

“Quit it would you.”

“It’s morning, Yugi.”

“Don’t care.”

“Yugi.” Yami’s voice said softly, his hide shifting against Yugi’s back. Yugi hummed in response before stopping. _Wait… did that mean that…?_

Yugi squeaked, scrambling to his feet.

“Oh… Ah… Y-Yami, hi there.” Yugi stuttered. He glanced at him from under his lashes, letting his bangs fall over his face to shadow the blush he could feel growing there.

“It’s time for breakfast I’d say.” Yami said, seemingly not noticing Yugi’s splutter. Yugi glanced away, and he then noticed there was light in the room.

“You got candles?” Yugi asked, voice hitching in excitement. There were a few sitting in one of the other corners of the room, burning tiny flames over even smaller wicks.

He had already known that Jou had brought candles with him, having watched them talk that night in the candlelight, but Yami didn’t know that, so he kept his reaction as natural as possible.

“Jou brought them. Must have realised I was out and wanted more. He’s a good lad.” Yami said, rising to his feet, arms stretched high above him. He pushed the golden bands on his arms upwards, hugging his biceps tightly.

“Why do you wear so much gold?” Yugi found himself asking. His eyes travelled to Yami’s legs as he spoke, looking at the huge chunks wrapped around the ankles there.

“I’m a dragon.” Yami said, like it was a simple answer.

“And explain it for someone who’s never met a dragon before you?” Yugi pressed.

Yami made a sound, nodding. “Of course, sorry. Dragons are attracted to gold, it’s a very precious material to us. It has soothing qualities, and full breeds often hoard it and sleep on it to regain energy.”

“How do you know what full breeds do?” Yugi asked, curious.

“I read books about my dragon side of my family.” Yami crossed his arms, peering at Yugi from the side. “Does that satisfy your question?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Yugi ducked his head. “That was rude of me.”

Yami sighed, hands switching to his hips, the breakaway section of scales visible where they shifted into human skin now that his scarf was gone. “It’s fine, I understand your curiosity. It is a sore subject though, and I would appreciate you not pointing it out.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” Yugi nodded. Yami’s expression softened.

“Thank you.”

Yugi just nodded mutely.

“Are you hungry?” Yami asked, giving Yugi a new conversation topic.

“A little.” He admitted. Yami trotted over to the opposite corner, beside the entrance. Yugi followed him over.

There was a collection of bowls and baskets there, some filled with herbs and nuts while others were just stacked under the others, empty.

One of the top ones had a bunch of apples and oranges thrown randomly in it, from where Yugi had put them before.

Yugi picked up an apple and orange, bringing them back over to Yami and offering them out.

“Thank you.” Yami said, gently plucking the orange out of his hand. Yugi settled with the apple, standing there nibbling on the skin. His eyes trailed over Yami’s scales as he ate, taking in how the damage had healed over the night.

The wound had sealed over, but the gap the gashes caused was still swollen and puffy.

“We should rewash your wounds today.” Yugi said, gazing over at Yami’s hide.

“They’ll be fine.” Yami waved him off, turning back to his orange. His sharp teeth dug into the flesh, juices spraying all over his face, but Yami didn’t seem to care.

“We really should though.” Yugi pressed, reaching out to poke Yami’s side. He touched one of the cuts, and Yami winced loudly.

“That hurts.” He grunted, rounding on Yugi.

“And it would help if you ran water over it.” Yugi cocked an eyebrow, waiting for Yami’s next rebuttal.

It didn’t come, Yami heaving a sigh instead, offering his hands in surrender. The last of the orange disappearing between his lips as he did.

“Fine, you win.” He said between chewing, looking at Yugi pointedly. “You remember the way?”

“I think so.”

“Then lead on.”

Yugi nodded, gathering up some cloth in his hands. He passed by the fireplace, and the bowl lying in the ashes.

“Can I borrow this actually?” He asked, gazing up at Yami.

“What for?” Yami said, padding closer.

“To heat up some water when we return. It’ll help your wounds feel better and heal faster.”

“Hot water not used for cooking?” Yami frowned.

“Trust me, it’ll help.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“All right then…” Yami relented. Yugi reached down to pluck the bowl up, placing the cloth inside and cradling it by his side.

“Ready?”

Yami nodded, and Yugi set off. He walked slowly, making sure to keep the pace slow for Yami.

He followed the tunnel down to the underground spring, keeping a hand against the wall as he went, just to be safe.

Once they returned to the open cavern, Yugi milled back from the edge of the water, letting Yami pass him and begin to climb in.

Yami turned his body around, backtracking into the water and lowering slowly down, tail first. The water swallowed his body eagerly, waves rolling over the surface as he disturbed the stillness.

His front claws dug into the rock at the water’s edge, steading his body as it sunk heavily. He kept his forearms and shoulders out of the water, the leg with the wound on it positioned towards Yugi to allow him easy access.

Armed with a cloth this time, Yugi set to work washing down Yami’s hide. He stood in front of him, filling the bowl with water to save himself bending down constantly. He held it at his hip, dipping the cloth in frequently to dab water over the rough sections of skin. There was dried blood cacked over the scales, and it took Yugi a great deal of picking and rubbing to get it off.

“There, good as new.” Yugi smiled, stepping back to look at his handiwork. The light in the cavern wasn’t the best, but even with the winks of sunlight Yugi was able to see the shine of Yami’s scales, small slivers of red peeking out from the muddy maroon mess in the shadows.

Yugi found himself tracing patterns over the scales, stroking them for the smooth surface, his fingers gently caressing. _They’re smoother than skin,_ Yugi marvelled. He had touched lizards and fish before, but these were a whole different kind of scale. Lizards were rough, while fish were slimy. Yami’s kind however were… well, smoother than any kind of skin Yugi had ever felt. He wondered if all dragons felt like this. Maybe they had been hunted for their skin, then? To make the most luscious and comfortable mats and accessories for the people in the north.

Yugi was curious, but he couldn’t ask, knowing there was a good chance Yami wouldn’t know, or if he did, wouldn’t want to discuss the murder of one of his family kinds. Besides, he had promised Yami he wouldn’t breach the subject again, and he intended to keep his word.

Yugi looked up with he heard a huff, and he snapped out of his actions. He looked up to find Yami staring at him, a thoughtful look in his gaze.

“I…” Yugi open and closed his mouth, unsure what to say. He turned back to Yami’s side, then back to Yami’s face. Yami frowned at him.

“Are you all right?” He asked softly.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine.” Yugi said quickly. “Any way I’m done, so you can get out now.”

 Yami hummed, lowering himself to observe Yugi’s work. “They look good.” He deemed, nodding in satisfaction.

“Thank you. We should still put hot water over them though. The chill won’t be good for you.”

“Fair enough.” Yami grunted, pushing out of the water.

And Yugi tried hard not to stare at the rivers that cascaded down Yami’s form. _What’s with all this attention recently?_ Yugi frowned to himself as he filled up the bowl with spring water. He didn’t know why he wanted to watch Yami, or why he found the other so fascinating. He wanted to ask questions, learn more, but the sudden burning to know had him scared.

He worried himself the entire walk back to the kitchen area, letting Yami more or less lead this time. Yami made no comment, most likely focusing on his own problems.

Yami settled himself down on the far side of the room while Yugi made a beeline for the cooking area. He placed the full bowl over it, careful not to let any water slosh over the edge before lighting the fire with some flint Yami left lying around.

They waited patiently for the water to boil, Yugi keeping a watchful gaze on the flames while Yami rested off to the side. Yugi couldn’t resist sneaking glances every now and then, biting his lip in his confusion.

Ever since that night he had eavesdropped, it was almost like he had seen Yami in a new light. There had been more to the dragontaur than he had originally thought, of course, but the more he learnt, the more Yami just seemed like another person trying to live their life.

And it just made his true situation that much more gut wrenching. Yami couldn’t leave, he couldn’t live out a normal human life. He was sacrificing so much staying here. It made Yugi angry at the world for having such a skewered view of dragons. They couldn’t all be as they were described, if Yami was this selfless as half a one.

_But then again, until I met him, I thought the same,_ Yugi sighed, staring sadly at the flames licking the sides of the bowl.

“Is it done?” Yami called out.

“Uh, I’ll just check.” Yugi mumbled, shuffling closer. He peered over the top into the bubbling pot. “Yeah it’s ready. Would you mind helping me put out the fire?”

Yami gave a huff, shifting to his feet. He stomped over, crouching down. A clawed foot reached out to pluck the bowl away between its tips. Then he crushed down on it, snuffling out the flames with a crack of protest from the burnt wood.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Yugi asked, watching wide eyed as Yami just pulled his foot back, not looking fussed in the least.

“Not really,” Yami said. “I’m very much fireproof, so long as the flames are only touching my scales. Anywhere else and it would hurt.” Yami raised his hands pointedly, gesturing to his human half.

“That must come in handy.” Yugi mentioned.

“I don’t really think about it. It’s something I take for granted, I suppose.”

“Oh,” Yugi nodded, staring at the smoking husk of the planks. The water had begun to simmer down in the pot, no longer bubbling, but still steaming away. Yugi decided to wait a few moments longer, until it was safe enough for him to dip the cloth in without the steam burning him.

“This might hurt, I tried to wait for the water to cool down, but I don’t want risk it going lukewarm and having to heat it again. I don’t think you have enough firewood for that.”

“It’s fine. Just do it.” Yami grunted, his front claws bracing against the rock.

Yugi brought the hot, damp material to Yami’s hide, patting it against the gouge in his side. Yami’s breath hitched, and Yugi jerked it back, shooting him a worried glance.

“Nrgg, keep going.” Yami said through gritted teeth. His hands fisted by his sides, not having anything to grip.

Yugi reluctantly resumed, practicing great care with his movements. He gently patted it over Yami’s wounds, letting the water soak into them. He avoided rubbing at all, worried the hot water could aggravate the wounds into reopening if he wasn’t careful.

“Doing okay?” He asked, keeping an eye on Yami’s facial expression. He nodded quickly, huffing out a breath.

“Yeah, it’s okay.” He said. Yugi resoaked the cloth, bringing it back to Yami’s side. He worked away from his shoulder, scanning and hunting over Yami’s scales for any and all of the scratches he had received from the fight with the shadow beast.

Eventually he had done all he could, and the water turned barely warm, no longer useable without being reheated.

“There, all done,” Yugi nodded to himself, satisfied with his work. “Does it still hurt?”

“No, it’s fine.” Yami said, and Yugi saw him twitching his muscles, claws still dug into the earth.

“It’s only been a day.” Yugi pointed out. Yami’s expression dropped.

“…It hurts a little,” he admitted. “But honestly it’s not a big deal, I’ll be fine in a couple of days…”

Yugi just nodded, all too aware how stubborn Yami was being. He knew he could put his foot down and be stubborn right back, but the fight had left his body hours ago. He was drained, and an argument couldn’t form on his tongue.

“Right, okay.” He muttered, moving back to focus on the ashes and wood in the fireplace, not missing Yami’s gaze on his back.

* * *

“I could have done that, you know.” Yami said, gesturing with his eyes to the fireplace.

Yugi had been attempting to cook a stew with the ingredients they had in the cave. When he had discovered Yami had some potatoes, he was thrilled, babbling about being able to cook with real ingredients.

He had taken it upon himself since Yami had shown stress with his injuries to cook for them. He knew Yami was probably a better cook, having more experience, but Yugi wasn’t half bad.

“I know, o mighty dragontaur.” Yugi said, stirring the pot lazily as he spoke. Yami gave a huff. “You couldn’t even cut the potatoes properly, I’d hate to see you try and deal with hot water.”

Yami sulked, his ears drooping. “I’m not _that_ accident prone.” He mumbled, but it was weak and they both knew it.

“It’s fine Yami, just let me do this, all right? It shouldn’t be much longer.” Yugi said. He added a pinch of herbs to the top- all they had really- stirring the flakes into the mix. Some of the potatoes chunks bobbed on the top, and he swatted at them with the spoon. He was glad most of the utensils Yami had scattered around were human sized to fit in his human hands, otherwise this would have been much harder for Yugi to cook with, imagining them crafted to fit dragon limbs instead.

He shook his head to clear it, pouring out a bowl before handing it to Yami.

“Thank you.” Yami took it in his hands, sniffing over the rim.

Yugi made his own bowl up, choosing to eat with the spoon, while Yami sipped from the edge of his. Yugi finished his first, setting the bowl down next to the pot of leftover stew. Yami was still lapping at his.

“So? How is it?” Yugi asked, suddenly feeling anxious. He knew Yami was a good cook, and he was feeling worried it would be a pile of slop compared to his work.

Yami wriggled his nose, staring down at the bowl. “Could use some more herbs, but since we don’t have any it can’t be helped… it’s good.”

“I’ll take it.” Yugi said, chuckling.

“I can teach you how to add more, to get that extra flavour.” Yami said, placing his bowl off to the side. “There’s so many simple tips that once you know cooking becomes more fun, more exciting to do.”

“You really like cooking.” Yugi observed the way Yami’s eyes lit up as he spoke.

“It’s fun to do. I could only imagine what it would be like to have a proper fireplace to cook with, not the makeshift one I’m forced to use.” Yami sighed, staring at the smouldering embers under the pot the last of the firewood finally gone.

“Is it possible to build one? Here?”

“I guess? One of the holes in the roof could be enlarged for the smoke to escape through, I suppose. But then I would need people to build it, I wouldn’t know the first thing about brick work, not to mention too much smoke leaving the mountain could be suspicious. If humans came to investigate, it would mean trouble for me.” Yami sighed, the shine leaving his eyes. “This is for the best.”

Yugi felt his mood sullen as Yami grew despondent. The room felt colder than it should have with the warmth between them fading. Yugi found himself resting his head on his knees, gazing down at the ground, as if waiting for something to happen.

But he knew nothing would, if he didn’t speak up.

“Can we go back outside? I’d… really like to soak up some sun.” Yugi said, twiddling his thumbs.

Yami tilted his head to the side, considering it thoughtfully. “I don’t see why not. Some sun would be nice, actually.” He rose to his feet, waiting for Yugi to do the same before leaving the room.

Yugi noticed the chill in the tunnels more so now than in the kitchen, what with the candles and fireplace creating a pleasant warmth. He pressed closer to Yami as they walked, grateful for the dragon’s body heat that rolled off him.

The sunlight greeted them cheerily outside, spreading light over the fields stretching over the horizon. The distant shapes of far off mountains and snaking patterns of forests stitched together by rivers was a sight Yugi thought he could never get sick of. The atmosphere of it all was so thick with promises of adventure and mysteries, hidden groves and treasures crying out for them to discover. The kinds he had been warned about by his grandfather at an early age, tales of monsters in the dark of the forest just waiting to whisk away young children to gobble up.

It was a lot like Yami’s mountain, Yugi realised, surprise flashing through him at the revelation. Mysterious, unwilling to yield its secrets without enticing danger, and yet holding a treasure worth more than anything in the world.

_Wait, did I just…?_ Yugi flushed ducking his head away from Yami, but the dragontaur didn’t seem to even notice. _I can’t believe I…_

“Well here it is, the outside.” Yami said, gesturing dramatically around them. “Leech off heat to your heart’s content.”

Yugi giggled, moving over to a rock in a prime position on the mountainside, giving his back support to prop himself up, legs sprawled out in front of him lazily.

Yami grunted, as if to supplement words, stomping away to follow the path they took the other day. Yugi assumed he was heading to his orchard, and was content to allow the separation for the first time since that creature attacked.

He saw Yami’s tail flick up before he disappeared, the image of the shining burgundy scales staying with him, the red of his wings and underbelly bright against the lush forest backdrop. Left alone, his mind began to wonder back to before Yami had unintentionally interrupted him.

_A treasure…_ He supposed he could understand why the thought had crossed his mind. Yami was good, underneath the bristling exterior he seemed to exhibit. It was like a hard shell, keeping Yami’s softer side safe and unhurt.

But it didn’t seem to take much for Yami to let down his shields. He had opened up to Yugi more than Yugi had expected. Maybe he did this every century, and was just grateful for whatever company he could get.

It made Yugi wonder what would happen if he chose to leave. If. He hadn’t realised he had changed from ‘when’ to ‘if,’ but suddenly he had considered the possibility of staying just as much as leaving. _Maybe, just maybe… it could work,_ he thought, staring down at his feet. _Maybe I could have a life here. It wouldn’t be all that bad…_

Yami reappeared then, his feet smacking loudly against the rock as his form moved. Yugi didn’t think he would be good at sneaking around, his body too heavy to supply soft footfalls.

“Would you like one?” Yami asked when he approached, holding out an orange and apple between his hands. Yugi took the opportunity to let his thoughts scatter, taking the apple with a smile, settling himself back down in the comfortable warmth.

Yami lowered his body down, resting his legs against the stone. He brought one of his forearms close to his human hands, and Yugi watched him use the sharp edge of the claw to peel off the skin of the orange.

“Wow, handy.” Yugi admired.

“It is, isn’t it?” Yami chuckled, tossing the skin away and sinking his teeth into the flesh.

They ate with a comfortable silence stretching between them, each lost in their own thoughts and food. Yugi let his eyes slide closed, enjoying the warmth of the sun next to Yami.

* * *

“Pass me the bowls would you?” Yami said, stirring at their meal.

“Sure thing!” Yugi scrambled to his feet, trotting to the far edge of the cave where Yami kept his assortment of human supplies.

They had lazed around outside for most of the day, before Yami had suggested cooking the fruit instead of eating it raw for once. Yugi agreed, and they had retreated inside to the kitchen, where Yami had set to work cooking stewed apples.

Yugi had helped as much as he could, namely fetching them water for the dish, and cutting up the apples, not trusting Yami to do it himself, even though the other insisted his wounds were practically healed. The slight limp he still gave suggested otherwise, though.

Yugi returned with two small, but deep bowls, holding them up and out for Yami to take.

“Thank you.” Yami gave him a small smile, ladling in a portion of the stew up into one of them.

“Luckily the apples themselves will act as a sweetener. Once upon a time I had sugar, but it was many years ago… I’m tempted to ask Jou to bring some next time.”

“It’s pretty rare in my old village too. I only used to get a little when I was a kid, with a rare dessert.” Yugi said. He paused, blinking widely in surprise. His old village. It had rolled so easily off his tongue, no longer his ‘home’ or ‘village’. _Come to think of it, I haven’t thought at all about my old life for days now. I’ve been so busy absorbed into Yami’s way of life, I had almost forgotten…_

Yami just nodded with a hum, not seeming to realise Yugi’s sudden silence. He passed Yugi his bowl back, full of stew.

Yugi blinked, accepting it with a mumbled thanks. He settled down against Yami’s scales, picking at the apple pieces, eating them slowly.

Yami filled his own bowl, sighing happily as he started to eat. A comfortable silence settled over them, and Yugi felt too awkward to want to break it. Yami seemed content, and he didn’t want to sour the mood by bringing up old memories that were better off buried.

“Tomorrow marks two weeks since your arrival.” Yami said suddenly, making Yugi flinch. Yugi looked up at him, noting Yami’s gaze seemed distant.

“Does it?” Yugi blinked. He quickly tried to add up the days since his arrival, but he couldn’t exactly remember them all. It seemed like it was true though, and Yugi didn’t doubt him.

“Does that mean Jou will be back tomorrow?”

“Yes, he will. And you can go back with him, free to live your life again, just as I promised.”

“Thank you…” Yugi lowered his head, suddenly hyper aware of the contact he had with Yami’s hide against his back. He stood up instead, leaving his bowl behind, awkwardly walking around, using stretching as an excuse.

“I want to… thank you, for trying to make the best of this situation,” Yami said. “I appreciate your efforts, and your-”

“No, I should be thanking you, you’ve… done so much for me, and I’ve just kicked and screamed at you for most of it.” Yugi muttered to his feet, unwilling to meet Yami’s gaze. “I’m sorry, I know I haven’t been the easiest to deal with.”

“What, and you think I’ve been a ray of sunshine?” Yami snorted. “I know I’m a brick wall too. Thank _you_ for putting up with _me_ , and for not trying to run away again. I’m glad to see another sacrifice get the chance to start again.”

“To be honest, there’s nothing left for me in my old village. Anywhere from here has me better off than there.” Yugi rubbed his arm as he paced, sneaking glances at Yami as he went.

“Well, wherever you go, know that you are always welcome to return and tell me of your adventures. I would love to hear of them.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Yugi said, his expression falling. He turned his back to Yami to hide his frown. What would he do from here? Where would he go? He hadn’t considered how much work it would be, to try and find a place to fit in once again.

_Not that you ever fitted in back at the village,_ his mind teased him, and he let out a soft sigh. He couldn’t rely on Jou and Serenity’s help forever. They would set him on the right path, he was sure, but after that, what good was he? He wasn’t fit for the high life in the northern cities, and he wasn’t knowledgeable in any field. He had no skills to his name beside basic farm work.

He could find a small field to work on then, he supposed. Someone to take him in, keep him fed with a bed while he worked the harvest. But that was only one season a year. What good would he be in winter?

He turned back to see Yami watching him carefully, his eyes silently questioning him. Yugi gave him a smile in return, and Yami seemed to lighten at that.

“How about we run away together then? We could both go on adventures then.” Yugi laughed, unable to stop himself at the bemused expression Yami gave him.

“Just disappear from the mountain one day, leaving no trace of our whereabouts,” Yami nodded, like he was seriously considering it. “Let the humans deal with their land and problems. We could go beyond, search for my ancestors perhaps.”

“Maybe even find a secret civilisation of dragontaurs! How cool would that be?”

“Amazing, but… would I have a place among them? I would be a stranger, and dragons are very territorial.” Yami pursed his lips, finger on his chin in thought.

“You wouldn’t need them!” Yugi brushed it off.

“And why is that?” Yami smiled, playing along.

“Because you’d have me!” Yugi stood straighter, puffing his chest out. Yami’s eyes widened, and Yugi realised what he said seconds later.

“Well, I mean… in that scenario.” He stumbled over his words, body slumping back down.

“Yugi… I-” Yami started, but Yugi already felt embarrassed enough.

“No don’t make it awkward!” Yugi whined, lunging his body forward over Yami’s side.

Yami rolled his body in response, yelping in surprise, Yugi being lifted up onto Yami’s underbelly as his scaled back disappeared under his huge weight, wings flailing off to the sides.

Yugi giggled as he flopped on top of him, his body ending up sprawled out on top of Yami’s, their faces close together.

“H-Hey… If you wanted to stay, I mean, whatever you want to do, it’s your decision you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” Yugi fidgeted with his hands, aware of their close proximity, and the fact he was _lying_ on top of Yami.

“These past two weeks have been… fun, Yugi. Thank you, for them.” Yami ducked his head, ears tipped downwards.

“I… I’ve had fun too. Thank you.” Yugi murmured.

Yami was leaning closer, his wide red eyes staring directly into Yugi’s. Yugi could feel his hot breath on his face, warming his cheeks. Or was that the blush he knew was creeping up his face?

“I…” Yugi trailed off, not wanting words to ruin it. He felt like he was grasping for an excuse, something to pull him out of the situation, but nothing arose to his pleas, and he found, surprisingly, he didn’t mind.

Yami’s hand came up to cradle Yugi’s cheek, palm soft and warm while the nails tapped lightly in his hairline.

Yugi couldn’t take the distance anymore, and he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against Yami’s.

They were soft, softer than he thought was possible for the kind of life Yami led. And warm too. Strange, he always thought dragons were cold and clammy, like the lizards he had encountered around the village as a child, their scales rough and cool to the touch.

But sitting on top of Yami’s scales, Yugi found them to be a pleasant source of warmth, and it was doing things to his body, making him hum subconsciously into Yami’s mouth.

Yami turned his head to the side, and Yugi was brought to a new height of pleasure as their kiss deepened.

He moaned into it without realising, hands moving up to Yami’s chin to touch it softly, urging Yami to continue.

Yami grazed his teeth over Yugi’s lips in response before pulling them back, all too eager to press his bruised lips closer.

Yugi stretched his neck closer, eager to touch what he could, mind clouding with intense feelings. His hands came up to press against Yami’s chest, and his fingers brushed over Yami’s nipples.

He yelped in surprise when Yami bucked upwards, tossing him off to the side from the movement, causing Yugi to land awkwardly on the rocky ground. Yami meanwhile rolled himself upright, standing up to loom over Yugi.

His torso bent down, a worried look over his face. “Are you all right? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, it just-”

“Yami, it’s okay,” Yugi huffed, rising to his feet. “I’m fine, you just surprised me is all.”

“I’m sorry.” Yami spluttered, face brimming with embarrassment. His hands shot up to hide his eyes, palms covering his mouth.

“It’s okay.”

“No, I… please leave.” Yami mumbled around his hands.

“Yami.”

“No. Leave.”

“You’re not going to sulk about being kissed are you?”

“I’m sorry,” Yami dipped his head, bangs fluttering down over his face as his hands slid off. “You should… I… don’t want to risk hurting you.”

“But why? I’m fine, really, you weren’t doing anything wrong. I was adding as much as you were.” Yugi tried to point out. Yami shook his head though, clearly not agreeing.

“I gave you my word I wouldn’t do anything without your permission, and-”

“Permission granted then.” Yugi interrupted. Yami looked at him, confused.

“What?”

“You need permission? Here it is, I’m giving it,” Yugi shrugged. “So what’s the problem?”

“I…” Yami bit his lip, and Yugi guessed it had hurt from how bruised they would be already. It made Yugi want to press against them again, they were so soft…

“I’m not sure this is right.” Yami protested weakly. Yugi could see he didn’t have much fight left in him. A little more convincing, and Yugi would have him.

“Are you saying you don’t want this?” He pointed between them. “Because if you don’t want something between us, just tell me and it won’t happen. Then I’ll leave.”

“What?” Yami looked shocked. “No, of course I do. You’re a wonderful person Yugi and I really like you, but…”

“But?”

“But… are you sure this is what you want? I can’t help but think… I’m not sure you… Are you… sure?”

“I like you, Yami. You’re not as grumpy as I originally thought you were. You’re sweet, in your own way. I want to do this.”

Yami gave Yugi an unsure look, but ultimately melted down into awkwardly nodding, clearly conveying his uncertainty.

“Okay… So…”

“So…” Yugi repeated, smiling.

“This is awkward.”

“Saying so makes it so.”

“Sorry?”

“You know… You’re just a big awkward softie, aren’t you?” Yugi laughed, suddenly unable to stop himself. He threw his head back at the mortified look Yami gave him.

“That’s it get out, you’re ruining my scary imagine.” Yami made a shooing motion, but Yugi just grabbed his arms, giggling.

“You are the most domestic person I’ve ever met, I can’t believe I thought you were terrifying before.” Yugi said instead, moving closer. He threw his arms around Yami’s neck, tugging his head down to smack his lips against his.

Yami stiffened at the contact, but ultimately fell apart as he melted into Yugi’s lips. His arms came up to Yugi’s shoulders, pressing their chests together.

Yugi hummed appreciatively into their kiss, licking over Yami’s teeth, tasting the sweetness of the fruit Yami had been eating.

They broke apart again, Yami’s cheeks rivalling the shade of his belly as he stared into Yugi’s gaze.

“Can we… do that again?” he asked, panting.

Yugi grinned back, his fingers snaking into Yami’s hair as he pulled him back down into another breathtaking kiss.

* * *

The next morning they both travelled to the underground spring to wash themselves down. Yugi gave his hair a decent soaking, staying in as long as he could without risking a cold, but glad to be ridding it of the dirt that clung so stubbornly in the locks.

This time he had brought clothes, and even another sheet to use to dry himself off. Yami had thought ahead, it seemed, when he had offered it to Yugi.

The whole morning they had done little more than engage in small conversation, each still trying to process that the day had finally come, up until the promised time, where they were now standing; outside on the mountainside awaiting Jou’s arrival.

Yugi was almost sure it hadn’t been a spur of the moment thing, the more he thought about it, but from the despondent look on Yami’s face, the dragontaur seemed to believe it was.

Should he then prove him wrong? Tell Yami he did really like him, that it wasn’t just a one off thing built from a combination of their desperate need for relief and closeness?

_But how can I expect him to lay down his feelings when I can barely comprehend my own?_ He sighed, eyes moving to gaze back at Yami’s form. Even standing there awkwardly in the shadow of the cavern’s entrance, his skin and scales shone with perfection, their morning dip in the underground lake bringing out all the best in them. All the gold that constantly hugged his limbs glistered in the light, catching in Yugi’s eyes to the point he had to squint at certain angles.

“You’ll be going back with Jou I presume? He’ll help you get back on your feet I promise.” Yami asked from his place in the shadows. It was almost as if he was afraid to stand beside Yugi in the light, his hide mostly obscured by the darkness.

“What makes you think that?”

“It’s the logical choice. You’d want to be with others of your kind.” Yami said mildly.

Yugi made a sound, finally growing tired of Yami’s despondency.

“We should talk, about last night…” Yugi walked closer, leaning against the opposite side of the rocky entrance.

“I… there’s nothing really to say. Once you leave, you’re under no obligation to return. You may never see me again, if that is what you wish.” Yami ducked his head.

“But I don’t wish that. You know, I think I worked something out about you.” Yugi said.

Yami gazed at him, brows furrowing together. “And that would be…?”

“You act tough, and try to keep people at arm’s length because you know they’ll eventually leave. So why bother forming a companionship with them if they’ll just disappear?”

“How would you explain Jou and Serenity’s continued presence then?” Yami folded his arms.

“Jou wasn’t your sacrifice, and his grandmother chose to leave.”

Yami’s ears dipped, and he looked off to the side, an angry scowl on his face.

“I didn’t mean it as an insult, I’m sorry.” Yugi reached forward, resting his hand against Yami’s side.

“I don’t understand what you want from me. You’re free now, what do you…” Yami sighed, turning away. “Never mind. Jou should be here soon.”

Silence broke out between them for the remainder of the time, the thickness only letting up once Jou came into sight.

Yugi waved him up, waiting patiently for the other to reach the cave entrance where they stood.

“Hey Yugi! Yami! How’s it going?” Jou greeted them, reaching out to muss up Yugi’s hair.

“It’s good.” Yugi ducked his head out of the way, stepping back and out of Jou’s reach.

“Good to hear,” Jou said, he grin plastered on his face. “So Yugi, you coming back with me now?”

Yugi looked back at Yami, who had stumbled forward to join them. His gaze was even, resigned to his fate.

“No, I think I’ll stay, if it’s all the same to you.” Yugi turned around, smiling up at Jou. “I think I could do more here, than out there.”

Jou blinked, surprise plastered all over his face. Yugi heard a barely suppressed noise behind him.

“Wait, really? You’re choosing to stay?” Jou asked, face growing serious. “If you’re worried about settling in to a new life, don’t be, Serenity and I will be able to start you off again with no worries. We even found a bakery who could use an apprentice right about now and-”

“Jou, please, I appreciate the enthusiasm and your offer, I really do, but... I want to stay. This is my choice.” Yugi nodded. His mind was made up; this was his decision.

Yami stomped up to his side, body bent forward to make his eyes level with Yugi’s.

“You don’t have to feel indebted to me at all for anything, you know. Don’t let it stop you from giving yourself a new life.”

“It’s funny. If you had told me that a week ago, I would have cursed you and ran out, taking you up on that offer in an instant,” Yugi mused, turning to face Yami. “But now… I guess something changed my mind.” He smiled, and Yami just looked confused.

“Are you sure? If you choose to remain, you’ll be stuck with me again, and it’ll be longer than two weeks until someone visits next, be it Jou or another. You won’t be able to change your mind again for quite some time, or risk leaving alone without help.”

“It is quite the journey, back and forth.” Jou agreed reluctantly.

“You must be certain, Yugi.” Yami pressed.

“I am certain. You don’t believe in my decision making abilities?” Yugi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“O-Of course not, I believe you.” Yami said quickly, hands stroking over each other.

“Then believe that I know what I’m doing. I know what I want.” Yugi put a hand on top of Yami’s keeping them from fidgeting. Yami looked at him carefully, biting his lip.

“The decision is yours, you are welcome either way. If you wish to stay, I will not stop you.” He nodded, gently moving his hands away from Yugi’s.

“Well come on then, let’s go inside and celebrate Yugi’s decision!” Jou interrupted, striding off towards the entrance. “Dinner is on me! Or, actually, on Yami. I ain’t cooking!”

Yami just rolled his eyes, turning his body around to follow after the other. He paused, foot mid-air, glancing back at Yugi.

“You are certain? It doesn’t have to be forever, of course, but still… do you really want this?”

“Yes you silly dragon. Unless you didn’t want me?”

“What? Perish the thought, of course I do.” Yami said quickly, his ears flicking up. He brought his hands to Yugi’s, holding them tightly. “I treasure our time together. If… you truly want this, then, I will gladly give all I have to offer to you.”

Yugi grinned, leaning up to give Yami a chaste kiss on the cheek, squeezing their hands lightly before bounding away without waiting for Yami’s reaction. He didn’t need to, the muffled whine that came from behind him enough to break a smile over his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who joined me on this fic's journey! I hope you enjoyed it! Shameless plug but feel free to check out my other multichapter puzzlefics if you're interested in fantasy AUs! I write a lot of them, and even have another I'm currently working on in Prince and King, as well as ANOTHER planned after that ahaha. See ya around, and thanks for reading! B)


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